The Trans-Afghan railway will be Uzbekistan’s “second major strategic project” after the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan line, Deputy Transport Minister Jasurbek Choriev said in an interview with “Uzbekistan 24,” Gazeta.uz reports.
A trilateral framework agreement signed on July 17 in Kabul by Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to prepare a feasibility study now clears the way for practical work. Over the next six months the partners will carry out engineering and geological surveys, route design, and financial/economic analysis, with results to be presented to potential investors. A trilateral project office under Uzbekistan Railways (Uzbekiston Temir Yullari) will serve as the project customer.
The planned route - Termez–Naibabad–Maidan Shahr–Logar–Kharlachi - will connect to Pakistan’s rail network and onward to the ports of Karachi. Uzbekistan’s Transport Ministry says this is the country’s shortest path to the sea and an alternative to vulnerable supply chains through Iran and the Black Sea, a risk underscored by a recent disruption at Iran’s Bandar Abbas port.
Preliminary specs: roughly 650 km in length; estimated cost $4.6 billion; initial freight capacity up to 3 million tons a year, rising to 15–20 million tons by 2035–2040. Transit time from Pakistan to Uzbekistan could fall from 35–40 days by multimodal road transport to just 3–5 days by rail. The corridor is also expected to handle transit cargo from other Central Asian states.
Construction is slated to begin after the feasibility study is complete, with overall implementation projected at up to five years.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 21, 2025