Khaf–Herat Rail Freight Up 4.5-Fold, Boosting Iran–Afghanistan Trade
Iranian media have reported that freight transport along the Khaf–Herat railway has increased 4.5 times over the past two years. The route connects Iran to Afghanistan’s Herat province via Khorasan Razavi.
According to these reports, the governor of Khaf stated that the volume of freight transported on this railway has risen from 9,757 tons to more than 45,000 tons, while the number of wagons passing along the route has increased by 571 percent.
Qutbuddin Yaqubi, an economic analyst, said: “For landlocked countries like Afghanistan, transportation through railways is essential. Therefore, the connection and completion of the Khaf–Herat railway between Iran and Afghanistan can play an important role in facilitating trade between the two countries.”
At the same time, the Ministry of Public Works of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, highlighting the importance of the Khaf–Herat railway, said that freight transport through this route has increased 18 times this year compared to last year.
The ministry’s spokesperson added that efforts are underway to further develop railway infrastructure to provide greater facilitation for the transport of commercial goods.
Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas, spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Works, said: “In the first ten months of the solar year 1404, more than 474,889 tons of goods were transported through this route—figures that show an 18-fold increase compared to last year.”
Another economic analyst, Sayed Masoud, said: “The Khaf–Herat railway, which runs from Iran to Herat, is a positive development both for the national economy—benefiting the people of Herat—and for the regional economy by linking Iran and Afghanistan.”
Previously, local officials in Herat had said that the transfer of commercial goods via the Herat–Khaf railway had increased fivefold. According to them, between 2,000 and 5,000 tons of commercial goods from various countries enter Afghanistan daily through this route.
