{"id":7414,"date":"2020-12-03T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T23:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/?p=7414"},"modified":"2020-12-09T21:29:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T21:29:50","slug":"first-freight-train-from-iran-to-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewgrantham.co.uk\/afghanistan\/first-freight-train-from-iran-to-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"First freight train from Iran to Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A trial freight train on 2 December 2020 delivered 500 tonnes of cement on the new railway which runs from Khaf in Iran as far as a station at Rosnak (Rahzanak, \u0631\u0648\u0632\u0646\u06a9)<\/a> in Afghanistan’s Herat province.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A passenger train also ran from Iran to bring officials to and from a meeting with their Afghan counterparts.<\/p>\n

Rosnak is on the Islam Qala to Herat road<\/a> to the north of Ghourian (Ghoryan, \u063a\u0648\u0631\u064a\u0627\u0646, Ghurian). Construction works can be seen in Bing maps (but not Google Maps). Jono (Jonaw, Junaw) has been mentioned previously as a station; I’m not sure whether this is referring to the same place.2<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The new railway is in effect an extension of the Iranian rail network across the border. After many years of proposals, construction officially began in Iran on 29 July 2006. The line is being built in four stages<\/a>, with the latest section being the 62 km stage 3, and completion of the project<\/a> has taken a lot longer than was envisaged.<\/p>\n

An official opening ceremony for the first three sections of the Khaf to Herat railway is planned for 10 December 2020. <\/p>\n

Construction of the fourth stage is being planned, with work to be undertaken in two phases with the first running to Robat Paryan and the second to Herat airport.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

For the first time, imported goods came from #Iran<\/a> via the #Herat<\/a>–#Khawaf<\/a> railway. The cargo was \u201c500 (metric) tons of cement," said officials. #Afghanistan<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YF4TXOwL9w<\/a><\/p>\n

— Omid Sobhani (@OmidSobhni) December 2, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n