LANDLOCKED Afghanistan now has new rail connections to two of its neighbours as lines have opened in recent weeks. On December 10 the first railway linking Iran with Afghanistan opened. The line from Khawf, Iran to Rozanak, Afghanistan is built to standard gauge and an extension to the western Afghan city of Herat is under construction.
On January 14, a 24km 1520mmgauge line opened between the town of Aqina, on the Afghan border with Turkmenistan, and the northern Afghan town of Andkhoy. Another link between the Turkmenistani network and Afghanistan is planned as 173km 1520mm gauge line from Towrgondi on the border to Herat is also planned. The cross-border section to Towrgondi dates from the 1960s.
A line from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan already existed with the first 16km built by the Soviet Union to supply its invasion forces in 1982, and was extended to the city of Mazār-i-Sharīf in 2010. Plans have been made to extend this line west to Herat creating a through route to Iran and the Persian Gulf. An easterly extension via Kabul and the Khyber Pass to Pakistan is also proposed, although finance for the project has yet to be agreed.