ISLAMABAD: During a meeting of the trilateral working group in Islamabad, Uzbekistan discussed with Pakistan its feasibility assessment for the Trans-Afghan railway project.
According to the report, it would cost $8 billion to build a 783-kilometer railway track between Mazar-e-Sharif and Torkham.
On the railway, 80 tunnels totaling 148 km would be built. According to the article, the tunnel-equipped track would cost $4 million per kilometer. According to the report, the track between Mazar-e-Sharif and Torkham would be entirely electrified.
The Central Asian Republics and Pakistan are to be connected by the proposed project. According to the Railways ministry, the Trans-Afghan railway project will not only improve people-to-people links throughout the whole area while also facilitating regional and bilateral trade between the participating nations.
A roadmap strategic plan to build a new 573 km Trans-Afghan railway connecting Central Asia with ports on the Arabian Sea has already been agreed upon by Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
It will link with the current Termez, Uzbekistan-Mazar-e-Sharif cross-border line, which was inaugurated in 2012, and run from Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan through Kabul to Peshawar. It will give Pakistan and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, a direct train connection.
The line, which would accommodate both passenger and freight services, is anticipated to boost connectivity and the region’s economy, especially for Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.