Rail transport in Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan has 4,980 kilometres (3,090 mi) of railways (37th largest in the world). The railway operator is the state owned company Türkmendemirýollary (Turkmen Railways). The company belongs to the Ministry of Railways of Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan is currently expanding their Rail system to cover 5,256.25 kilometres (3,266.08 mi) more distance, which will take their network to 10,236.25 kilometres (6,360.51 mi) track kilometres by 2025
Railways in Turkmenistan | |
---|---|
A newly constructed railway station in Bereket city, October 2013 | |
Operation | |
National railway | Türkmendemirýollary |
System length | |
Total | 4,980 kilometres (3,090 mi) |
Track gauge | |
Main | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) |
National and International railways system
As of 2020 Turkmenistan had 6,561 kilometres (4,077 mi) of rail line, mostly close to the northern and southern borders. The Tejen–Serakhs–Mashhad railway, built in 1996 by Turkmenistan and Iran, links Central Asian, Russian, and European rail systems with South Asia and the Persian Gulf. In February 2006, the final construction phase began on the Trans-Karakum Railway, a direct link between Ashgabat and Daşoguz that halves travel time between the southern and northern parts of the country.
Bereket Railway Station in former Kazandjik is an important crossroad of the Trans-Caspian railway and North-South Transnational Railway Corridor.
The Türkmenabat-Ashgabat-Bereket-Türkmenbaşy route is partly double-tracked; the rest of the network is single-track. There is no electrification.[1]
The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway link is a part of the North-South Transnational Corridor and is a 677 km (421 mi) long single-tracked railway line connecting Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with Iran and the Persian Gulf. It links Uzen in Kazakhstan with Bereket - Etrek in Turkmenistan and end at Gorgan in Iran's Golestan province. In Iran, the railway will be linked to national network making its way to the ports of the Persian Gulf.[2]
The project is estimated to cost $620m which is being jointly funded by the governments of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan Iran and Asian Development Bank.[2] The railway link has been inaugurated in May 2013.[3]
Bereket Railway Station in (Kazandzhik) is strategically important railways intersection on the Trans-Caspian Railway (links Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and eastern Kazakhstan and North-South Transnational Railway (links Russia-Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Persian Gulf). The city has a large locomotive repair depot and a modern station.
Links to Afghanistan
In 1960, the USSR built a railway across the Afghan border to Towraghondi although services have been very limited; it was restored in 2007. In 2013, work began on a second link, from Atamyrat via Imamnazar (on the border) to Aqina in Andkhoy District. This link was opened in November 2016.[4] It is expected to be extended 38 km to Andkhoy in the near future, and eventually to become part of a railway corridor through northern Afghanistan, linking it all the way via Sherkhan Bandar, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz to Tajikistan.
Rolling stock
In 2013, 154 passenger coaches were ordered from CSR;[5] CSR has previously supplied locomotives.[6]
See also
References
- "Turkmen railways/Schedule of the trains - Tours to Turkmenistan". Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- "North-South Transnational Corridor". railway-technology.com. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
- "Presidents open Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan rail link". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- Salehai, Zarghona (28 November 2016). "Afghan-Turkmenistan railroad inaugurated". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- "Pakistan Railways orders 50 locomotives". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- "World rolling stock market April 2013". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 10 June 2013.