KHUJAND, August 18, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik Railways has temporarily suspended rail communication between Qurghon Teppa, the capital of Khatlon province and the city of Konibodom, Sughd province because of lack of passengers, according to the Khujand railroad station.

The number of trains on the rail route from Dushanbe to Khujand has also been decreased due to low passenger traffic, the source said.  The Dushanbe-Khujand train that previously ran twice a week now serves only once a week, on Fridays.

In the meantime, the Khujand-Saratov (Russia) rail route remains a twice-weekly service.  “Some 200-300 passengers now travel by rail from Khujand to Saratov and not more than 150 passengers now travel by rail from Saratov to Khujand,” the source added.

We will recall that 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).