Uzbek president endorses framework agreement on feasibility study for trans-Afghan railway project
TASHKENT. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has endorsed a trilateral intergovernmental framework agreement, signed with Afghanistan and Pakistan in July 2025, on jointly conducting a feasibility study for the trans-Afghan railway project.
A corresponding decree has been added to the national legislation database.
The document orders that "the intergovernmental framework agreement between the Transport Ministry of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Public Works of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Ministry of Railways, signed in Kabul on July 17, 2025, on jointly conducting a feasibility study for the construction of a new railroad from Naybabad to Kharlachi be endorsed."
Uzbekistan's Transport Ministry was put in charge of implementing this agreement. The Uzbek Foreign Ministry was instructed to officially notify Afghanistan and Pakistan of Tashkent's fulfillment of the interstate procedures needed to enact the agreement.
As reported, following talks in Tashkent in February 2021, representatives of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a joint action plan for the construction of a railroad through Afghanistan to link the Uzbek border and Peshawar.
The World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the United States International Development Finance Corporation earlier showed their interest in funding this project.
The Transport Ministries of Russia and Uzbekistan, as well as Russian Railways and Uzbekistan Railways, signed documents in April 2025, launching the project's practical implementation.
According to the Russian Transport Ministry, Russian specialized planning and design organizations will work with their Uzbek counterparts to prepare sections of the feasibility study of the trans-Afghan railway project along the agreed routes this year, including forecasts for freight traffic and economic efficiency.
The trans-Afghan railway will be 573 kilometers long, with its transit potential estimated at up to 20 million tonnes of cargo per year. The Uzbek Transport Ministry said earlier that it would take at least five years to build the trans-Afghan railway, the tentative cost of which might reach $4.8 billion. Pakistan estimates its potential cost at $8.2 billion.
The new transport corridor will connect European Union countries, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Southeast Asia.
