DUSHANBE, August 10, 2010, Asia-Plus — Transport ministers from Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran are expected to gather in Dushanbe in October this year to discuss construction of a rail link connecting the three countries.
A related project envisions the construction of a new railway link connecting Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and China, aimed at boosting trade, increasing exports, and easing transit costs in the region, as well as expanding passenger traffic.
The source at the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Tajikistan told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon that the railroad from Nizhny Panj to Herat (Afghanistan) that will be 1,105 kilometers in length is part of the project for construction of the railroad from Kashgar (China) to Herat (Afghan-Iranian border).
“A total length of the Kashgar-Herat railroad is 1,972 kilometers and the Asian Development Bank is expected to complete feasibility study for construction of this rail link in the near future, while feasibility study for construction of the railroad from Nizhny Panj in Khatlon province to Kyrgyz border will be launched after adoption by the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber) of an appropriate resolution,” the source said, noting that ECO Fund (as said) has provided 1 million U.S. dollars for conducting feasibility study for construction of the Nizhny Panj-Kyrgyz Border railroad.
We will recall that Minister of Transport and Communications Olim Boboyev told reporters in Dushanbe on July 27 that the government is currently considering two options of financing for the Nizhny Panj-Kyrgyz Border rail link project: it will be funded due foreign loans or the project will be implemented on the basis of barter deal (financing of the railroad construction in exchange for development of natural resources in Tajikistan). The minister stressed that the Kashgar-Herat railroad construction project included three branch lines. “Two of them will connect the Kashgar-Herat railroad with Turkmen railways and the other one will connect it with Uzbek railways,” Boboyev said.
