Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan jointly launched the Termez-Peshawar railway project, Dunyo news agency reported with reference to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq Khan.
According to him, expedition work began on the territory of Afghanistan on July 18 to determine the route and the project’s feasibility study.
“The government of Pakistan, together with the Uzbek colleagues, will actively work on this issue, especially to attract funds for the early start of construction and engineering work,” Muhammad Sadiq Khan said.
He added that the Pakistani leadership sees the interconnectivity and railway projects as game changers "that will really change the reality in the socio-economic life of our regions."
Earlier in February 2021, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed in Tashkent a roadmap for the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project. The project is estimated at $5 billion.
It involves the construction of a 573 km highway and an annual transit potential of up to 20 million tons of cargo. The new transport corridor should link the European Union, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and further the states of Southeast Asia.
The full implementation of the transport and infrastructure potential of Afghanistan will reduce the time of transportation of goods, for example, from Uzbekistan to Pakistan from 30-35 down to 10-15 days. Transportation of goods on the new railway can reduce transport costs between Russia and Pakistan by 15-20%, and between the countries of Central Asia with Pakistan by 30-35%.
