Inamura Samangani, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of the Afghan Interim Government, tweeted a few days ago that the Taliban government has approved the construction of a railway across northern Afghanistan on January 21, 2022, connecting Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Possibly built by Russia.

The railway starts from the southern city of Termez in Uzbekistan, enters the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan, passes through Baghlan, Bamiyan, Kabul, and Jalalabad provinces, and reaches the northwestern city of Peshawar in Pakistan. Among them, the section from Termez to Mazar-e-Sharif was completed in 2011.

This "Tiermez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar" railway connecting Central Asia and South Asia is called "Century Building", with a total length of 537 kilometers, 27 stations and 7 tunnels along the way. The cost is 4.8 billion US dollars.

After the completion of the railway, it can greatly increase the transit potential of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, open up the sea exit from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean, and establish direct logistics and transportation channels for South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, as well as Central Asia and Russia.

It is reported that the project will be mainly undertaken by Uzbekistan and Russia. Russian State Railways has expressed support for the construction of the transport corridor and is willing to fund a feasibility study.

The economic counselor of the Russian embassy in Afghanistan said that this infrastructure project is currently only a proposal of interest to all parties. It is in the feasibility study stage and has not yet officially started. The risks are mainly security and lack of funds. Keywords: engineering construction information, engineering construction

In December 2021, it was reported that work on the trans-Afghan railway project would start in the spring of 2022, and Tashkent would also help Afghanistan train relevant technical experts. Editor/Sang Xiaomei