Nargiza Umarov
On April 8, 2025, the Russian Ministry of Transport announced the start of the practical implementation of the Trans-Afghan Railway. The ministry’s release noted that specialists of both countries will soon begin preparing a feasibility study for the project.
Two routes have been agreed upon: Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Dilaram-Kandahar-Chaman and Termez-Naibabad-Logar-Kharlachi. Everything is very clear with the latter. This is the so-called Kabul Corridor (also called Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway), initiated by Uzbekistan in 2018. Since then, the project has gone through many stages of development. According to the preliminary agreement of the parties, construction of the railway from the border of Uzbekistan to Pakistan was planned to begin in the fall of 2021. However, due to the seizure of power in Afghanistan by the Taliban, the process was postponed.
The Taliban quickly resumed dialogue with Tashkent on the launch of the Kabul Corridor, while simultaneously announcing the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Kandahar railway (1,468 km), which is presented as the shortest route between Moscow and New Delhi. This would lead to the creation of an alternative rail corridor transiting through the predominantly western Afghan provinces of Farah, Nimroz, Helmand, and Kandahar to reach Pakistani ports on the Indian Ocean. In a recent news report by the Russian Ministry of Transport, the route is mentioned as Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat-Dilaram-Kandahar-Chaman.
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