MASHHAD – The first train along Khaf-Herat Railway entered Rozanak Station after Iran and Afghanistan’s agreement in December 2022 to repair the damages incurred to Rozanak Station in order to resume the operation of the Khaf-Herat Railway.
After repairing the damages incurred to Khaf-Herat Railway in the Rozanak Station, the first train enters this station in Herat, so the operation of Khaf-Herat Railway was launched on Tuesday.
Moreover, during a formal visit of Iranian transport officials to Afghanistan, Iran and Afghanistan Railways negotiated over cooperation in completion of Afghanistan railroads and also operation of existing lines.
The Khaf-Herat Railway was inaugurated in December 2020 during a formal ceremony attended by the then Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani.
Afterwards, the third section of Khaf-Herat Railway from Shamtiq to Rozanak was delivered to the Afghanistan Railroad Administration; however, later on some damages incurred to parts of the routes and to the Rozanak Station which halted the transit operation.
Resuming transit through Khaf-Herat Railway is one of the priorities of infrastructural projects for both countries as the rail route facilitates freight transit and passenger transport. Further, the railway provides Afghanistan with access to the high seas and the neighboring countries.
The cross-border Khaf-Herat Railway Project is about 225km-long linking eastern Iran to western Afghanistan.
The first two sections, covering a total length of 78km, extend from the city of Khaf to the border in Khorasan Razavi Province within Iran.
Sections three and four together measure 147km long and stretch from the border at Shamtiq to Rozanak before heading to Herat.
The railway will extend to Chabahar in southeastern Iran, allowing Afghanistan to improve its trade through connections to Central Asia, Russia, Turkey, and Europe.
Reduction of transportation costs, border traffic and facilitation of freight transit as well as development of trade and economic relations are the benefits of the Khaf-Herat Railway.
Previously in December 2022, Iran and Afghanistan reached agreement to resume Khaf-Herat Railway within 6 months after impairing the damages to the route near Rozanak Station incurred during the government change in Afghanistan in 2021.
Upon that agreement, Afghanistan Railroad Administration became responsible for the operation of repairing the damages and Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company became responsible for overseeing the work.