The Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan (MoT) has denied reports by Kyrgyz media outlets about resumption of rail link between Kyrgyzstan and Russia as baseless.
Asia-Plus has applied to Tajik Railways (Tajikistan’s state-run railway company) to know when rail passenger traffic between Tajikistan and Russia will be resumed.
Kyrgyz media reports, citing the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, said on February 18 that rail passenger traffic between Kyrgyzstan and Russia via Kazakhstan will be resumed beginning on February 21.
Meanwhile, a MoT, Tajik Railways and the Passenger Traffic Directorate say the rail passenger traffic between Kyrgyzstan and Russian has not yet been resumed, “while negotiations are underway.”
“The procedure of resumption of rail link between these countries itself will take from 45 days to 4 months. The same goes for us. In Tajikistan, Tajik Railways and the Civil Transport Service are dealing with this issue,” Anvar Lаtipov, a spokesman for Tajik Railways, told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon.
“We are in constant contact with our foreign colleagues,” he added.
The Civil Transport Directorate head Karimjon Muminov told Asia-Plus today afternoon that “a decision on resumption of the rail passenger traffic is made by the countries' Commissions on COVID-19 Response.
“To-date, neither our Standing Committee on COVID-19 Response nor Kyrgyzstan or Russia has given consent to the resumption of the rail link. As soon as we receive approval from the Commissions, we will definitely inform you,” Muminov said.
According to him, a conference call on this issue is expected to be held in March.
The rail passenger traffic between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation was suspended on March 16, 2020 due to the novel coronavirus crisis.
Prior to suspension of the rail passenger traffic with Russia, 1,600 conductors reportedly worked for Tajik Railways, and after suspension of the rail passenger traffic between Tajikistan and Russia, the majority of them were put on unpaid leave. The same situation is with other employees of Tajik Railways.
Currently, only freight trains run between Tajikistan and Russia.
