Afghanistan’s first passenger train to Iran will start operating in the next Iranian year (starting March 20), according to the head of Afghanistan’s Railway Authority.
“This project is among ARA’s main plans for next year. The passenger train will have a capacity of 1,100 passengers to the neighboring Iran, which can increase to 1,300 on the return trip,” Mohammed Yama Shams was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
The official added that this train will run daily between the two countries.
The Khaf-Herat railroad was officially inaugurated by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Dec. 10 via videoconference.
Ghani said the railroad was a critically important project, not only for Afghanistan and Iran but also for the region and beyond.
“The opening of Khaf-Herat railroad is a great step for the development and economic progress of Iran and Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying by Ariana News.
Rouhani said that through this rail link, Afghanistan will be connected to European countries.
“With the Herat-Khaf railroad, Afghanistan will be connected to European countries as well as to the Chabahar railroad,” he added.
According to Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami, the 225-km-long railroad has been designed in four sections, three of which had been previously inaugurated.
Eslami added that the 85-kilometer-long Section-4, which has yet to be constructed, continues to Herat, the neighboring country’s third largest city, and Afghanistan has announced its commitment to build it.
Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Kheirollah Khademi told IRIB News that the railroad will help promote Afghanistan’s development, complete and expand the rail network between the Economic Cooperation Organization member states, increase transits from Central Asia to India and restore Iran’s pivotal role as the connecting link between the East and West.
When complete, he added, the railroad will be Afghanistan’s first rail link to Iran connecting the country to all of Iran’s southern ports in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
Afghanistan’s Railway Authority said the line forms one of its most important regional connectivity projects, as it will provide the landlocked country with a link to Iranian ports and to the rail networks of Iran, Turkey and Europe.
Freight traffic is predicted to be around 2 million tons a year, with imports to include oil, construction materials and food, and exports to include grain, dried fruit, plants and medical items.
“We are counting on Khaf-Herat rail route to play a significant role in boosting interactions between Iran and Afghanistan,” says the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Saeed Rasouli.
Referring to the economic significance of the project, officials of Herat Chamber of Commerce and Industries have said that the implementation of the project will help further expand exports and imports between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Afghanistan.
“Khaf’s railroad project will help connect Herat to the entire world and develop our export ability,” said Abdul Latif Qanawizyan, the deputy head of Herat Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Iran recently signed a contract with Afghan Railway Company to export rails to the neighboring country.
According to the Iranian Steel Producers Association, the first contract for export of rails worth $4.33 million to Afghanistan was signed.
Esfahan Steel Company is the first and largest construction steel and rail producer in Iran and the biggest producer of long products in the Middle East.
Chabahar-Zahedan railroad project requires at least 50,000 tons of rail tracks, 5,000 of which are going to be supplied by ESCO.
With an investment of 12,000 billion rials ($50 million), the 628 km railroad project connecting the southeastern port city of Chabahar to the eastern city of Zahedan near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan has witnessed a 48% progress, the deputy head of the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, Abbas Khatibi, said in November.
Track-laying of the massive project is currently underway.
