First train en route from China to Afghanistan
Representatives of the railways of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China and Kyrgyzstan have signed an agreement to create a new economic corridor between their countries. It is being launched on a trial basis with a maiden train loaded with commercial goods.
The train started in China and recently arrived in Kyrgyszstan. It will arrive in Hairatan port in Afghanistan at the border to Uzbekistan in few days. The trial phase will last three months, whereby Uzbek and Afghan railways are to ship containerised commercial goods from China via Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan's Balkh province.
This economic corridor is a combination of multi-modal transportation systems. The cargo will be transported mainly by train and trucked on only a few parts of the journey. (ben)