INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) officials said Thursday preliminary work on finishing the railway project between Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan and Pakistan (Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway) has started.Speaking at a news conference on Thursday in Kabul, ARA
officials said that joint technical teams have started work and are half way through the initial phase.Inshallah we finish this project it
may not only ensure the economy of Afghanistan but also guarantee the country&s security,& said Bakht Rehman Sharafat, General Director of
the Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA).At the same time, ARA said that revenue from the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan railway line, which
previously went to Uzbekistan, will now come to ARA.Afghanistan&s railway revenue was previously collected in Uzbekistan and then this
country passed it on to Afghanistan but after the Islamic Emirate&s takeover we weren''t able to receive the revenue from Uzbekistan due to
banking system crisis,& Sharafat said.Now, Afghanistan&s $12.5 million is with Uzbekistan which has not delivered it to the country yet.The
railway line will connect the Trans-Corridor of Central Asia to Pakistan by the shortest route and will also provide an opportunity for
South Asian countries to enter the markets of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Europe.However, the railway administration
has prioritized its plans and prioritized the projects where work is half finished or almost complete.According to ARA, since the beginning
of this year, more than three and a half million tons of goods have been transported using the existing line.The post IEA to complete
Afghan-Uzbek-Pak railway line first appeared on Ariana News.
