Nargiza Umarova
Afghanistan, Iran, and Türkiye have agreed to jointly construct a railway between Afghanistan’s Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif (Tolo News, October 24). Representatives from the three countries reached the agreement on October 22 at the Regional Assembly of the International Union of Railways in Istanbul. Each country will contribute financial, technical, and human resources to the project. A $10 million technical and economic feasibility study is scheduled for completion by March 2026, with cargo trials to follow a year later (South Asian Desk, October 25).
The extension of railway lines along Afghanistan’s northern provinces positions it as a key transit hub in East–West connectivity through Eurasia. The October 22 agreement marks another milestone in the implementation of the Five Nations Railway Corridor (FNRC) concept, which gained momentum in the early 2000s (see EDM, December 15, 2020). The 2,100-kilometer (1,205-mile) route features a single 1,435 millimeter standard gauge and spans the borders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, with additional access to Türkiye and the European Union. The FNRC is designed to provide the shortest land connection between East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, posing serious competition to transit routes from the PRC to the European Union via Central Asia, including the Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transit Route (TITR).
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