DUSHANBE, January 15, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan intends to build the railway from Kolkhozobod to Nizhny Panj on the Afghan border in the near future, the Tajik Railways head Amonullo Hukumov remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 14.

The railway will be part of the project that envisions the construction of a new railway link connecting Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.  “Construction of this railway link from the side of Iran has already started,” Hukumov said.

He also noted that there was also a proposal of the government to construct the railway link that would connect Tajikistan and China.  This railway is expected to link Tajikistan and China via Kyrgyz territory, the Tajik Railways head said.

Hukumov also noted that the Tajik Railways would begin construction of a 45-kilometer railway from Vahdat to Yovon this year.  Construction of the railway Vahdat-Yovon is scheduled to begin in September.

“At first, the Tajik Railways will construct this link on its own, while in the future, the services of foreign investors may be enlisted,” he said.

The total length of rails in Tajikistan is 954 kilometers; of that, 680 kilometers are the main railways.  There are 31 railway stations in the republic.

At present Tajik Railways offers three routes to the Russian Federation (Dushanbe-Moscow, Kulob-Moscow, Khujand-Saratov) and four domestic routes (Dushanbe-Konibodom, Qurghon Teppa-Konibodom, Dushanbe-Pakhtaobod and Qurghon Teppa-Kulob).

Tajikistan’s rolling-stock currently includes 1,761 cargo cars, 351 passenger carriages and 56 diesel locomotives.