At last - photos of the railway at Towraghondi, Afghanistan’s border crossing with Turkmenistan. Donald Hill has various pictures of the terminal, including two shots of a Turkmenistan railway locomotive on 28 November 2007. It is a 2TE10L twin-section loco, number 2086 (or is that just one half of it?). The loco is not a thing of beauty, but it is real rail action in Afghanistan.
The two railway terminals in Afghanistan are now visible at a half-decent resolution in Google Earth.
Unfortunately the eastern-most part of the railway line is still low-resolution, including the Friendship Bridge from Uzbekistan. Some sidings are visible, but no trains.
There is more to see on the line from Turkmenistan, with lots of sidings and buildings, and various wagons.
Samuel Rachdi of Fahrplancenter has provided me with some information on train operations across Afghanistan’s northern borders.
The Turkmen government has rehabilitated earlier in 2007 the line to Towraghondi and about 20 to 25 wagon loads are brought over this rail line to Afghanistan per week. This line is operated by Turkmen Railways.
In contrast the Termez (Uzbekistan) - Hayratan line is very busy, nearly every day a train is entering Afghanistan, mainly with petroleum products, building material, machines, agricultural products. Every train consits of up to 30 wagons. In the opposite direction very little merchandise is transported, less than 10% against import, so most wagons are leaving the country empty. This line is operated by Uzbek Railways, but with some Afghan employees at Hayratan.
Turkmenistan starts reconstruction of Afghan railway
A ceremony of launching the reconstruction of a 2 km section of the railway in the territory of Afghanistan that runs into the territory of Turkmenistan was held in Afghan Turgundi and Turkmen Serhetabat towns yesterday. As is known, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov put forward this initiative during his recent meeting with Afghan President Khamid Karzai. The initiative relates to the overhaul of the railway including full replacement of mechanisms and equipment at the expense of Turkmenistan including financing of works for the total value of US$ 550,000.
As the Turkmenistan.ru’s correspondent reports, after laying the first symbolic pair of sleepers in the Afghan territory in Turgundi the similar ceremony was held in Serhetabat. The ceremonies were attended by the delegations of two countries. Public Affairs Minister Sohrab Ali Safari, Minister of Labor and Social Security and on Disabled and Shaheed Affairs Nurmuhammet Garkyn, Governor of Herat Seyit Hoseyin Anvari, Afghan Ambassador to Turkmenistan Abdulkarim Haddam represented the Afghan side. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of bordering Afghan settlements where ethnic Turkmens live. Turkmen Minister of Railway Transport Deryaguly Muhammetguliev led the Turkmen delegation.
from TURKMENISTAN.RU 2007-07-12.
This cross-border line was originally built by the USSR to support its forces after their invasion of Afghanistan. The line stretches for around 9.6 km from Kushka in Turkmenistan to Towraghondi. The route is parallel to the Amu-Darya river on the Soviet side, which made it vunerable to cross-border sabotage and military attack during the Soviet-Afghan war. The line fell out of use sometime around the time of the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Map.
Turkmen Railways to Provide Gratuitous Assistance to Afghanistan
The Ministry of railways of Turkmenistan will construct a railway line in Afghanistan at its own expense.
The cost of the project is USD 5.5 Mln, reports Railway Market-CEE Review referrin to Altaqata.
As the Ashgabat correspondent of Turkmenistan.ru reports quoting the press service of the head of state, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree to this effect “with a view to further developing and strengthening the neighborly relations between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as well as providing assistance to the people of Afghanistan in reconstruction of the national economy.”
from RZD Partner 2007-07-13.
The Spring 2006 issue of Continental Railway Journal has a couple of pages on Afghanistan by David Brice, with details of current operations on the two lines. There are 3-4 trains a day to Hayratan, worked by Uzbekistan Railways TEM2 locos, and 1-2 daily trains to Torghundi.
There is also an editorial note on the identities of the three steam engines in Darulaman.
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