Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – A brand new section of the Khaf-Herat railway project has been inaugurated, connecting Khaf in northeastern Iran to Rozanak in Herat.
An official ceremony took place on Tuesday afternoon to mark the opening of this strategic railway section, attended by officials from both Iran and Afghanistan. Among the attendees were the managing director of the Afghanistan Railway Organization, representatives from Afghanistan’s Foreign Trade Ministry, the special representative of Iran’s Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, the governor of Khorasan Razavi Province, and officials from the Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan.
This recently launched railway segment is part of the 222-kilometer-long Khaf-Herat railway project, which commenced in the fiscal year of 2007-2008, with the aim of connecting Iran’s Khaf to Afghanistan’s Ghorian.
The Khaf-Herat railway forms a significant part of the broader 2,000-kilometer-long East-West railroad, which spans from China through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey, all the way to Europe. By providing access to Iranian ports in the north, this railway grants landlocked Afghanistan the opportunity to reach the high seas. The construction of this railway project experienced delays due to changes in the Afghan government, but it was successfully completed last year.
On Tuesday, the first Iranian cargo train arrived in Afghanistan. The implementation of the railway project was primarily carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, under a tripartite agreement involving Iran, Afghanistan, and India. The objective was to utilize the capacities of Iran’s Chabahar port in order to expand trade exchanges with Afghanistan. The project was divided into four parts, with Iran responsible for completing three of them. Two of these sections are located within Iranian territory, while the remaining two are situated on the Afghan side.
