The venue of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan railway line has been changed and now it will enter into Pakistan through Kharlachi, district Kurram instead of Torkham. A trilateral agreement in this connection will be signed on Wednesday. After the agreement, Pakistan Railway had to construct railway track from Kharlachi to Kohat to connect it with the railway track. Shifting the railway track from stable to unstable areas has also raised questions on the project.

During 2022, Pakistan Railway officials in assistance of Afghan and Uzbek authorities had finalized the railway from Mazar Sharif to Torkham. Pakistan Railway officials refused to give their viewpoint that what caused changing the route of the track. Earlier, on Tuesday, a meeting of the trilateral working group of three countries on Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railways project was held at Ministry of Railways Islamabad.

Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, Secretary/Chairman Pakistan Railways led Pakistani side whereas delegations of Afghanistan was led by Alhaj Bakhtulrehman Sharaft, Director General and CEO of Afghanistan Railways Authority. Mr. Dekhkanov D.T, Head of the Transport Department of Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan represented the Uzbekistan side. The working group finalized the route of the project during meeting. The key objectives of UAP project is to build a missing rail link by connecting Uzbekistan railways with Pakistan railways via Termiz- Mazar e Sharif-Logar- Kharlachi route.

The UAP railway project would not only facilitate the regional, transit and bilateral trades amongst the participating countries, but also provide better people-to-people connections to the entire region. The line will support both passenger and freight services, and would contribute in regional trade and economic growth. The parties also agreed on a roadmap for conducting technical studies, financing sources and other key aspects for early implementation of the project. The parties appreciated the professional work of the experts of the three railways in achieving consensus on the final route and its implementation modalities. (M Awais)

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP