After the establishment of a new government in Kabul, Iran has renewed talks with Afghan officials to complete the development project of Khaf-Herat railway, according to a senior Iranian transportation official.
Abbas Khatibi, the deputy head of Iran’s Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, said on Tuesday that the talks between Tehran and Kabul began as the completion of the railway project stopped for a while following the political developments in Afghanistan and the change of government in the country.
The first part of the railway project was inaugurated early on December 2020. This part of the railway linked Khaf in Iran to Rozanak station in Afghanistan and the rest of the railway to Herat has yet to be completed.
The map shows the location of Khaf station in Iran rail network and the route towards Herat
In a tweet on the day of the inauguration of the first part of the project, Iran’s then Foreign Minister Mohammd Javad Zarif said that “The Khaf-Herat railway’s significance is not only for Iran & Afghanistan, but for the greater region. As a gateway that'll boost trade and people-to-people exchanges, it will also contribute to regional stability & development. Turning our frontiers into bridges is a priority.”
The 225-km railroad project includes four phases. About 78 km of the project, which includes two phases, is on Iran's soil and the rest in Afghanistan.
Khatibi said that Khaf-Herat railway is on the East to West Corridor linking China to Turkey and Europe via Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iran soil.
He believed that the railroad revives the ancient Silk Road and will play a significant role in reducing the costs of exports and transit.