TASHKENT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2019) The first freight train with containerized cargo has departed from Afghanistan to arrive in China, transiting through the territories of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Uzbek Railways JSC said in a statement on Thursday.
"On September 5, the opening ceremony of the containerized cargo export from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the People's Republic of China took place," the company said.
According to the statement, the train, composed of 41 containers loaded with semi-finished stone of mineral talc, has departed from the Afghan station of Hairatan, in close vicinity to the border with Uzbekistan.
In 2010, Uzbekistan completed the construction of the Hairatan-Mazari Sharif railroad in Afghanistan estimated 46 miles in length and $129 millions in value. In August 2016, containerized cargo trains first began running from China to Afghanistan via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
In December 2017, Tashkent and Islamabad have signed an agreement to construct a railroad from Mazari Sharif in north to Herat in north-west, with Afghanistan assuming the fundraising responsibilities and Uzbekistan responsible for the actual planning and construction. In April, China expressed interest in joining the construction of another railroad from Mazari Sharif through Kabul all the way to Pakistan's Peshawar.
