DUSHANBE, February 25, 2016, Asia-Plus – Uzbekistan has completed construction of a rail link to the Ferghana Valley that bypasses Tajikistan.
According to the Uzbekistan Railways (”Ozbekiston Temir Yollari”), the new 123-kilometer electrified railway runs from Angren in Tashkent region to Pap in Namangan region over the 2,200-meter Kamchik Pass along the northern border of Tajikistan.
The project reportedly included construction of a 19-kilometer tunnel, bridges with a total length of 2,100 meters and rehabilitation of three bridges with a total length of 151 meters.
A total cost of the project is 1.9 billion U.S. dollars.
The project allows Tashkent to abandon use of a Soviet-era, 110-kilometer rail link that cuts across Tajikistan”s northern Sughd province, and, thus, acquire transport independence.
Uzbekistan had earlier used that international rail route for shipping oil and petroleum products for a reported annual transit fee of US$25 million.
Earlier, Uzbekistan reportedly built railway link to bypass territories of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
