{"id":221807,"date":"2025-05-22T22:33:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=62715"},"modified":"2025-05-22T22:33:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:33:05","slug":"kazakhstan-confirms-readiness-to-invest-500-million-dollars-in-trans-afghan-railway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=221807","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan confirms readiness to invest 500 million dollars in trans-Afghan railway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kazakhstan is planning to invest half a billion dollars in the trans-Afghan railway. Earlier, the Taliban came out with such a statement, but there has been no official confirmation from the Kazakh side, until now. Moreover, Russia is also expressing interest, especially on behalf of the automotive industry.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The Kazakh involvement in the trans-Afghan railway is growing larger. Before announcing the 500 million dollar investment, Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of intent to help in building the Turgundi – Herat – Kandahar – Spin-Boldak railway. The trans-Afghan railway would bring a direct connection between Central Asia and the Indian Ocean closer, much in the interest of countries in the area.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Russia also expressed its interest in the project. It is already known that Russia and Uzbekistan are cooperating on a feasibility study, but now Russian businesses are also looking favourably upon the project. According to a government official, Russian car manufacturers are interested in \u201cdeveloping cooperation with Afghan partners in terms of deliveries of freight and passenger vehicles.\u201d To make that possible, Russia is willing to deliver modern equipment and rolling stock for the railway.<\/p>\n

International North – South Transport Corridor<\/h2>\n

Afghanistan, for its part, is naturally satisfied with the international interest in a cross-country line. In order to give it some more weight, it is looking to join the International North – South Transport Corridor together with Pakistan. The latter\u2019s authorities have reportedly presented calculations for new transport corridor branches – their lengths, necessary budgets, and lists of development measures.<\/p>\n