The Deputy Minister of Railways of the Ministry of Public Works has traveled to Turkey to participate in the 34th Regional Meeting of the International Union of Railways (UIC).

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), Kabul: Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works, said in an interview with AVA: Mohammad Ishaq Sahibzada, Deputy Minister of Railways of the Ministry, headed a technical delegation at the official invitation of Turkey to participate in the 34th Regional Meeting of the International Union of Railways (UIC) yesterday evening.
According to Haqshenas, in this meeting, after presenting the annual report of the union, there will be a discussion and exchange of views on improving railway and transport activities, attracting investment, and recent achievements of regional countries.
Haqshenas added: The Deputy Minister of Railways of the Ministry of Public Works will speak at this meeting about; activities, achievements of railway projects under construction in Afghanistan, connecting regional lines, progress and future plans for the railway network in Afghanistan.
UIC is an international professional association in the field of railway promotion and rail transport development, and Afghanistan became a member of this association in 2013.
It is worth noting that Afghanistan, as a consumer and importing country, can gain several benefits from railways. The first advantage of using railways for Afghanistan is that it can access the products of neighboring countries several times.
Also, using railways to transport goods, which are carried out at a cheaper cost, leads to a reduction in the prices of goods exported by neighboring countries to Afghanistan and is made available to the people at a cheaper price.
Another benefit of using railways is that the heavy traffic on the road routes to ports caused by the movement of heavy vehicles is significantly reduced.
Another advantage of using railways is for passengers. Currently, passenger traffic between Afghanistan and neighboring countries, especially Iran, is carried out through a road port, which is accompanied by more problems and time. With the implementation of the passenger transport plan, for example, through the Khaf-Herat railway line, which carries one million people annually, in addition to reducing traffic and traffic, passengers will travel between the two countries more comfortably, in a shorter time, and at a lower cost.
Another advantage of extending the railway lines for Afghanistan is that Afghanistan will be connected to the railway networks of neighboring countries. For example, Afghanistan will be connected to the Mashhad-Zahedan-Chabahar railway network through the Khaf-Herat railway line.
Afghanistan will also be easily connected to Iranian seaports on the Caspian Sea through this line. On a larger scale, Afghanistan will be connected to the Turkish railway network via a very short route through the Iranian railway network and through it to the continental European railway network.
On the Central Asian side, Afghanistan is practically connected to the entire Central Asian and Russian railway network through the Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan railways. Specifically, Afghanistan is connected to China through the Uzbekistan railway and cargo transfers are practically carried out through this route. On the other hand, Afghanistan can develop the Lapis Lazuli route through the Turkmenistan railway, and experimental transfers have also been carried out from Afghanistan to Europe through this route.