ADB to finance construction of Turkmen section of railway corridor North-South

24.02.2010 (12:46)

The government of Turkmenistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Ashgabat on February 18 to finance the construction of the northern section of the railway corridor North-South on the route Bereket-Gyzylgaya-Uzen.

The document provides for allocation of funds worth US $ 225 million for the construction of a new railway line from the station Bereket to the Turkmen-Kazakh border. According to the memorandum, funds will be spent on the construction of the railway line, including stations, double track section and supportive tracks, the purchase of locomotives and equipment, as well as advisory services for monitoring and managing the project.

It should be recalled that earlier this year the government of Turkmenistan signed agreements under which another segment of the international North-South railway in Turkmenistan, Bereket Etrek, will be built using a loan granted by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The length of the line will be 256.5 kilometers. The cost of the project is US $ 371,200 million.

The total length of the railway, running from the Kazakh steppes across the Karakum desert to the mountainous province of Golestan in northern Iran, will be 900 km. It is expected that the opening of a new railway line Uzen-Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek-Gorgan will create additional routes linking Kazakhstan, the central regions of Russia with Turkmenistan, Iran, Gulf countries, South and South-East Asia.

The project will help increase transit cargo and passenger traffic through the territory of Turkmenistan, reduce the cost of transport within the country, save travel time and boost economic growth in the regions through which the road passes by increasing the transport movement and accessibility of rural areas.

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