{"id":4231,"date":"2011-08-24T08:03:50","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T08:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/?p=4231"},"modified":"2011-08-24T08:03:50","modified_gmt":"2011-08-24T08:03:50","slug":"hayratan-to-mazar-i-sharif-railway-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/hayratan-to-mazar-i-sharif-railway-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"Hayratan to Mazar-i-Sharif railway opens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hairatan-to-Mazar-i-Sharif railway opens<\/h3>\n

TASHKENT \u2013 Service began last weekend on the long-awaited Hairatan-to-Mazar-i-Sharif railway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Uzbekistan Railways (UTY) built the route, which was scheduled to open in July before contingencies forced a postponement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been working out the route\u2019s status as well as who will run it and how (since early July),\u201d said Rasul Holikov of UTY.<\/p>\n

Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed a three-year contract August 4 under which Uzbekistan will provide commercial services and operate the 75km railway. For now, the tracks carry only freight. Technical problems, such as reinforcement of sections of the trackbed and security on the Afghan portion, have also been addressed, Holikov said.<\/p>\n

Original plans called for both countries to operate the railway, but a lack of Afghan equipment required UTY to take over full operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that while our company is operating the railway, Afghanistan will be able to train its personnel, acquire the necessary rail equipment and take over the route \u2026 for its own use,\u201d Holikov said.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan conceded a current lack of workers and equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also do not have enough rolling stock \u2013 locomotives, which cost approximately $300,000 each, and freight cars \u2013 to ensure uninterrupted freight transport,\u201d said Walid Obaidi, an Afghan locomotive engineer from Mazar-i-Sharif. \u201cIt is better in this case to rely on a company with considerable material resources and a good reputation in the rail sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Afghanistan must increase its efforts to develop rail transport for economic reasons, said Mohammad Daud of the Moscow Centre for the Study of Modern Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Afghan market is attractive to all of Central Asia\u2019s countries. For example, Uzbekistan exports electricity and clothing and provides transport services,\u201d said Daud. Now, freight deliveries can be conducted routinely, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe railway has unquestionably stimulated development of the entire northern region,\u201d said political analyst Valerii Han. \u201cNew jobs were created, and local enterprises started operating. The railway will affect the development of agriculture, industry and mining … in these regions. In the future \u2026 it will help the Central Asian countries access the sea … (at) the Karachi seaport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uzbek and Afghan security agencies are working together to ensure the lines are safe. The railway\u2019s security will be further strengthened in the future, UTY said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe plan to amend the Law on Railways to further ensure the security of rail transport, prevent possible emergencies and eliminate threats to people\u2019s lives,\u201d said Damir Siddikov, an Uzbek senator. \u201cWe will be introducing the National Railway Transport Safety System.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI drove a locomotive through all of the stations up to Mazar-i-Sharif,\u201d said Umid Hursandov, a UTY engineer. \u201cLike all other the new railways built by our company, (it) is reliable and meets all standards. Many railway workers in our country are worried about their safety if they work this route. Of course, it would be foolish not to recognise that tension in the region persists, but I saw sound security along the entire railway and soldiers were guarding every crossing and important railway yard.\u201d <\/p>\n

Source: Hairatan-to-Mazar-i-Sharif railway opens<\/a>, Maksim Yeniseyev, CentralAsiaOnline.com, 2011-08-23<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The photo captioned “An Uzbekistan Railways train departs from Hairatan, Uzbekistan, to Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, August 21” appears to show a VL80 electric locomotive. UTY operates the type, however the Afghan line is not electrified. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hairatan-to-Mazar-i-Sharif railway opens TASHKENT \u2013 Service began last weekend on the long-awaited Hairatan-to-Mazar-i-Sharif railway. Uzbekistan Railways (UTY) built the route, which was scheduled to open in July before contingencies forced a postponement. \u201cWe have been working out the route\u2019s status as well as who will run it and how (since early July),\u201d said Rasul Holikov […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[79,114],"class_list":["post-4231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-afghanistans-railways","category-projects","tag-hayratan","tag-mazar-i-sharif"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}