AFGHANISTAN: Work has been launched to enhance the Towraghondi freight terminal on the border with Turkmenistan and extend the 1 520 mm gauge rail link to Sanobar in Herat province.
A ceremony was held on September 11 to launch work on the US$40m enhancement project after an Afghan delegation signed bilateral agreements with Turkmenistan, which will lead the projects.
The first phase includes the construction of new warehouses, sidings, and loading and unloading facilities at the Towraghondi terminal, which was built by Soviet personnel across the border from the southernmost point of the USSR.
The second phase would extend the railway 22 km to Sanobar.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works said the railway would be built to international standards and to meet the need of traders. The longer-term ambition is to extend the line to the city of Herat, and facilitate trade between Central Asia and Pakistan as part of the Lapiz Lazuli Corridor from Afghanistan to the Caucasus and Turkey.
Separately, work has restarted to extend the 1 435 mm gauge line from Iran towards Herat.
