DUSHANBE, January 21, 2013, Asia-Plus  -- China will make the final decision on the best itinerary for the rail link connecting China’s Kashgar and Afghanistan’s Herat, Usmon Qalandarov, deputy head of Tajik Railways (Tajik state rail company), announced at a news conference in Dushanbe  on January 21.

This railroad is expected to run from Kashgar via Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan to Herat in Afghanistan.

“Iranian company, Metra, has completed feasibility study for construction of a Tajik stretch of this regional rail link and Tajikistan will have to seek investor for construction of the Tajik portion of the railway,” Tajik state rail company deputy head noted.

He further added that it could not be ruled out that China would invest in construction of the Tajik stretch “because China is the main initiator of this project.”

We will recall that Iran allotted one million U.S. dollars in no-strings aid to Tajikistan for conducting feasibility for construction of a Tajik stretch of the railway link that should connect Kashgar and Heart.

The Tajik stretch is 392 kilometers in length.  It will run across from Karamyk on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border to Panji Poyon (also known since the times of the Soviet Union as Nizhny Panj) on the Tajik-Afghan border.

A 270-kilometer section from Karamyk to the Vahdat Township is considered to be the most difficult section of the Tajik stretch.  Up to 10 million USD will be needed for construction of one kilometer of the railroad on this section.

The project reportedly also provides for construction of 16 kilometers of railway tunnels and 47 rail bridges.

Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA) reported that Iranian Minister of Road and Urbanization Ali Nikzad voiced Tehran''s willingness to join a railway line which is due to connect China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.  According to FNA, the issue was raised by Nikzad at a meeting with Tajik Minister of Transport Nizom Hakimov in Tehran on May 6, 2012.

The Kashgar-Herat railway is a project first proposed by China in the late 1990s to build a more expansive regional transport system to encourage trade and travel throughout Central Asia.  China has held a series of meetings with regional officials to draft a complete railway plan.