Reconstruction work on Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway starts

Mazar-e-Sharif (TOLOnews): An Uzbek company started the reconstruction of destroyed sections of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway.
The officials of the Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) said that this project will cost more than $6 million dollars and its work will be completed in the next three months.
Sayed Naeem Mohammadi, finance and administrative deputy of ARA, at the opening ceremony of this project said that this railway was destroyed by “unknown people” and it is going to be reconstructed again with funding from the ARA.
Mohammadi said: “This railway was damaged by unknown and ignorant people which caused a serious loss to the government, and now its reconstruction was contracted with an Uzbek company.”
Shafiqullah Mahmood, head of Balkh’s railway department, said: “Its cost is approximately $6.3 million dollars that has been contracted.” Noorulhadi Edris, deputy governor of Balkh said: “Projects are implemented among countries from Uzbekistan to Pakistan and Afghanistan strengthen our relationship with neighboring countries.” The head of Balkh’s Chamber of Commerce and Investment said that with the activation of this railway, congestion in the customs of this province will also decrease.
Asadullah Asadi, head of Balkh’s chamber of commerce and investment, said: “After the restriction of the activities of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway, which caused the congestion of rail cars in Hairatan, the restoration work has started again, and it will create ease for the merchants when it’s completed.” According to officials, the construction work of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway, which is more than 100 kilometers long, was completed in 2011 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and cost more than $128 million dollars.