1:50 AM
McGhori
KABUL: Officials say the first train has run on Afghanistan’s first major railroad service. The new line in the country’s north should ease the US military’s supply flow and is key to future trade.
Deputy Public Works Minister Noor Gul Mangal says the cargoless train chugged into Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday after a 47-mile trial run from the border with Uzbekistan. It is the first leg stage a plan to link landlocked Afghanistan to its neighbors’ extensive railways.
ADB economist Juan Miranda says the $165 million line will release a bottleneck now holding up cargo.
A US Defence spokesman says the railway will speed up supplies coming in to American troops. The US recently shifted much of its supply line north from routes through Pakistan.
Posted in: INTERNATIONAL
