DUSHANBE, January 19, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- In 2011, Tajik Railways shipped more than 9.2 million tons of cargo, which is 1.2 tons fewer than in 2010, Vladimir Sobkalov, the first deputy head of Tajik Railways, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 18.

“Rail transit traffic last year amounted to 3.9 million tons, which is 1.2 million tons, or 20.9 percent, fewer than in 2010 and 5.1 million tons, or 56.8 percent, fewer than in 2009,” Sobkalov noted.

According to him, one of the reasons for the fall in the rail transit traffic is decrease in shipment of Uzbekistan’s commercial cargo via Tajikistan.  “Last year, Uzbekistan decreased its commercial cargo shipments via Tajikistan by 2 million tons as compared to 2010,” Tajik rail official noted.

In 2011, more than 603,000 people traveled by rail, which 16,700 people fewer than in 2010.

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

Tajikistan’s rolling-stock now includes 1,929 cargo cars, 424 passenger carriages and 55 diesel locomotives.

The total length of rails in Tajikistan is 950 kilometers; of that, 680 kilometers are the main railways.  At present there are 31 railway stations in the republic.