AFGHANISTAN: The Afghanistan Railway Authority has announced that surveys have been completed, are underway or will be commissioned for a series of railway extension projects.
On May 6 AfRA said an initial survey had been completed for a long-proposed 96 km railway from the city of Kandahar to the border at Spin Boldak, close to the Pakistan Railways railhead at Chaman.
Surveys are to be begin soon for a proposed extension to Herat of the 1 520 mm gauge line from Turkmenistan to the Towraghondi freight terminal.
Expressions of interest have been invited for a detailed survey and design of a 55 km extension for the Turkmenistan – Andkhoy line to Sheberghan.
Meanwhile, construction equipment has been delivered ready for the start of work to extend the 1 435 mm gauge Iran – Rozanak line onwards to a multimodal hub near Herat airport.
In April and early May two batches of minerals were exported from Afghanistan to Turkey via the existing line.
‘We are connected to the world and will remain connected, we want the world to be connected, we are against isolation and are committed to multimodal goods transport throughout the world’, said AfRA Chairman Bakht-u-Rehman Sharafat.
