Uzbekistan has reportedly completed repair work on a long-idle railway line linking it to southern Tajikistan.
Tashkent has restored the Galaba-Amuzang section of the said route, which has been offline for more than six years. The first cargo train will leave the Uzbek town of Termez and make its way to Khurshedi in Tajikistan’s Khatlon region.
All cargo and passenger traffic along this section of railway line have stood idle since November 2011, following a mysterious explosion that destroyed a supporting beam of a bridge in southern Uzbekistan. At the start of 2012, Uzbek railway workers pulled up part of the track all the way up to the Tajik border.
Resumption of railway traffic is another result of policies pursued by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who is expected to embark on a historic visit to Tajikistan later in March, to improve relations with neighboring countries.
This development will not just open Tajikistan up to Uzbekistan, but it will also in theory enable increased trade with Afghanistan and beyond.
Source: Business Central Asia
