Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Russia and Uzbekistan are moving into the practical phase of implementing a large-scale infrastructure project: the construction of the Trans-Afghan railway. This was reported by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.

Building on agreements reached at the highest levels in 2024, a package of documents has been signed between the relevant ministries and national railway companies of both countries — the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan, Russian Railways (RZD), and Uzbekistan Railways (Uzbekistan Temir Yullari). This marks the beginning of a new stage in their cooperation.

In 2025, Russian and Uzbek specialized project organizations will begin preparing the technical and economic justification (TEO) for the railway corridor, which is intended to link Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, providing access to the Arabian Sea ports.

The TEO will assess the potential volumes of cargo transportation, calculate the economic efficiency of the project, and define the key parameters of the route.

At this stage, two key routes for the future railway have been agreed upon: Mazar-i-Sharif – Herat – Delaram – Kandahar – Chaman and Termez – Naibabad – Logar – Kharlachi.

The next significant step will be the first multilateral session to discuss the project, which will take place on May 15-16, 2025, in Kazan as part of the "Russia – Islamic World" forum. Representatives from the railway authorities of Pakistan and a delegation from Afghanistan will participate in the event.

The implementation of the Trans-Afghan Railway project is viewed as a strategic contribution to the development of transport connectivity in Eurasia.

The new railway line is expected to create an alternative southern route connecting Russia, Central Asia, South Asia, and, further, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the project’s investment could total around $5 billion, with a potential capacity of up to 20 million tons of cargo per year.

The project was initiated by Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Since 2021, the parties have been actively discussing the technical parameters, funding sources, and security issues. The project’s realization will significantly reduce delivery times and costs for goods between Eurasian and South Asian countries, enhancing regional connectivity and economic cooperation.

It was previously reported that the TEO work was to be completed by July 2024. However, the latest information indicates that the completion of the TEO has been postponed until 2025.

In April 2024, a ministerial meeting took place in Termez (Uzbekistan), where representatives from Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan discussed the development of the Trans-Afghan multimodal transport corridor.

In December 2023, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov and Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Hamidullah Okhundzoda discussed accelerating the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway.

In February 2025, Uzbekistan’s Minister of Transport announced that construction of the railway line would begin this year.