DUSHANBE, January 28, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- In 2012, all types of transportation shipped little more than 18 million tons of cargo, nearly 3 percent fewer than in 2011, Minister of Transport, Nizom Hakimov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 28.

Compared to 2011, cargo shipments by automotive transportation and air rose 16.1 and 5.0 percent respectively last year.

Meanwhile, cargo shipments by the rail transportation fell 9.2 percent over the report period, the minister said.

Specialists from the Ministry of Transport (MoT) attribute the fall in the cargo shipments by the rail transportation to Uzbekistan’s halting of freight cars bound for the Tajik southern province of Khatlon.

Public conveyances reportedly rose 2.6 percent last year.  Some 170 million people were carried by all types of transportation last year, Hakimov noted.

Last year, airports in Dushanbe, Khujand, Kulob and Qurghon Teppa reportedly served more than 2.2 million passengers.