Khaf-Herat Rail Network to Ease Transit of Goods from Afghanistan to High Seas
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The 225-km Khaf-Herat Railway will facilitate the transit of goods from Afghanistan to high seas via Bandar Abbas and Chabahar, the commissioner of the Khaf-Herat Railway project said.
Hafez Sadatnejad said that the railway project will be constructed in a six-month period with the aim of facilitating the transit of goods en route the east to west corridor.
After the completion of the construction operation of the Rasht-Astara Railway and also connecting it to Turkey and also Iraq and Syria via the Khosravi Border, Afghanistan can materialize its objectives in the transit of goods and access to free waters, he emphasized.
The Khaf-Herat Railway Project is a 225 km-long cross-border railway between Iran and Afghanistan, linking eastern Iran to western Afghanistan.
The new railway line will improve passenger transportation as well as export and import of goods between the two countries. It will also improve Iran’s strategic position in regional exports and is of strategic importance for Afghanistan as it links the country to Europe. The new link will transport one million passengers a year between the two countries and more than six million tons of goods a year.
The railway project involves four sections, two of which are located in Iran and the remaining in Afghanistan. The first three sections, spanning a combined length of 140km, were inaugurated in December 2020. A test freight train transported 500t of cement between Khaf station in Iran and Rozanak station in Afghanistan.
