Page 64 - IRANRptSep22

Iran, Afghanistan ‘ambitious to connect Khaf-Herat railway to China via Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
Iran and Afghanistan have plans to connect the emerging Khaf (Iran)-Herat (Afghanistan) railway to China, Iranian press have reported Iran’s Deputy Transport and Urban Development Minister Abbas Khatibi as stating.
Though project approval has not yet been obtained from either Tehran or Kabul, officials envisage delivering Iran-Afghanistan-China rail connectivity via a route east that would exit Afghanistan on the border with Tajikistan. From there, the route would continue east to Kyrgyzstan before entering China through the valleys of the Tian Shan mountain range. A likely terminus in China would purportedly be Kashgar, an oasis city in Southern Xinjiang, with existing spurs heading north to Urumqi and connecting to China’s high-speed national rail network and through west to Kazakhstan.
The Khaf-Herat railway was in December 2020 inaugurated as the first cross-border railway link between Iran and Afghanistan. However, an 85-km stretch in Afghanistan running from Ghurian to Herat is still to be completed. When finished, the railway line will extend across 225 km, linking Khaf in eastern Iran with Herat in western Afghanistan. Work on the line began as far back as 2007.
64 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com