Uzbekistan has reduced rail transit cargo fees for Tajikistan, according to the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan (MoT).

An official source at a MoT says Uzbekistan has reduced transit fees for cargo carried along the Keles-Kudukli and the Khojadavlat-Kudukli rail routes by 40 percent.

The transit fee for oil products carried along the Karakalpakstan-Kudukli rail route has been cut by 30 percent and the transit fee for other goods carried along this route has been cut by 50 percent, the source added.   

Meanwhile, Uzbek news agency Podrobno.uz reported in August last year that for the purpose of increasing the rail freight traffic Uzbekistan has considerably cut the rail transit cargo fees for Tajikistan. 

In a statement delivered at a meeting of the international club in Tashkent, the deputy head of 'Oʻzbekiston Temir Yoʻllari' (Uzbekistan Railways), Davron Dekhkanov, noted on August 9 that Uzbekistan has cut the rail transit cargo fees for Tajikistan by more than 40 percent.

Asked about the possibility of construction of railway to bypass Turkmenistan and resumption of traffic along the train track between the Uzbek towns of Ghalaba and Amuzang, the deputy head of the Uzbek national rail carrier said, “Uzbekistan does not see the necessity of construction of new sections of the railway between the two countries,” according to Gazeta.uz.

Dekhkanov noted that there were several interstate rail border crossings – in Ferghana, Tashkent and Surkhandarya regions.  “Construction of any new section will not give any additional economic effect to our republic,” the Uzbekistan Railways deputy head added.  

Recall, the bridge on the train track between the Uzbek towns of Ghalaba and Amuzang was damaged overnight on November 16-17, 2011 that caused rail traffic between Termez in Uzbekistan and the Tajik city of Qurghon Teppa to be shut down.