Iran, Afghanistan discuss completing key railway project

The CEO of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways Jabbar-Ali Zakeri stressed completing Khaf-Herat railway according to a specific timeline.

News ID: 5452

Date: 20 November 2024 - 14:11

TABNAK, Nov, 20 : He made the remarks in a meeting with Deputy Minister of Public Works and Head of the Afghan Railway Administration Mawlawi Mohammad Ishaq Sahebzada and a visiting delegation.

Zajeri further asserted that the Iranian railway organization is determined to assist Afghanistan to complete the project in its soil.

Zakeri called for arranging a tripartite meeting among Iranian, Chinese, and Afghan authorities to pursue the implementation of the railway project, which was proposed by the Iranian railway officials.

According to Zakeri, many problems faced by the Iranian and Afghan railway consortium in the project have been resolved, and currently, three trains are operating weekly on the designated route.

For his part, Sahebzada appreciated training programs held by Iranian railway organization for 96 Afghan railway employees.

He add that following the successful completion of the first and second training courses, they are now looking forward to the third course.

He emphasized that based on studies, there is significant cargo capacity along the China-Afghanistan-Iran route, assuring that Afghanistan is fully prepared to take the necessary steps alongside Iran in this regard.

In July 2023, a new section of the railway project was launched to link Khaf in northeastern Iran to Rozanak in Afghanistan’s Herat Province.

The Khaf-Herat railway is part of a broader 2,000-kilometer-long East-West railroad running through China, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey to Europe.

This railway provides landlocked Afghanistan access to the high seas via Iranian ports in the northern country.

The construction project of the railway had been stalled due to the government changes in Afghanistan, but it was completed last year and the first Iranian cargo train arrived in Afghanistan on Tuesday.

The railway was mainly implemented by the Islamic Republic of Iran under a tripartite agreement between Iran, Afghanistan, and India, in order to use the capacities of Iran’s Chabahar port for expanding trade exchanges with Afghanistan.

The project was implemented in four parts, Iran was in charge of completing three of the mentioned four parts, two of which are in the Iranian territory and the other two are on the Afghan side.