Afghanistan Railway Authority on Thursday signed a contract with Kazakh company to build a 43-kilometer rail track in western Herat province.
It is part of last phase of a four-phase 225-km railway project that that connects Afghanistan with Iran, Transport Minister Yama Yari said at a press conference in Kabul.
The projects begin from Iran’s Khaf city and ends in industrial park of Afghanistan’s Herat city. Two phases of the project, covering 76 km have been completed inside Iran and the third, covering 62 km, has been completed 95 percent inside Afghanistan.
The contract signed withInkon KZ to build 43 km of the project is valued 58.5 million US dollars, which will be funded by the Afghan government.
The section is expected to be completed in 16 months.
Minister Yari said that Italy has pledged to fund the last section of the project covering 64 kilometres.
He said that if completed, the project would bring $64 million in revenue annually. Nearly 6.5 million tonnes of goods are expected to be transported via the railway in five years.
