Pakistan’s Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has announced plans to link Pakistan with Afghanistan by railway with a line from Chaman to Spin Boldak.
Ahmed said in the first phase Pakistan would lay around 11km of railway track from Chaman to Spin Boldak, and that a survey had already been completed in this regard, Dawn News reported.
He also said the Chaman-Spin Boldak railway line could later be extended to Kandahar if the Afghan government expressed its willingness.
He said that linking Chaman with Spin Boldak by railway would further promote trade between the two neighbouring countries.
Referring to the government’s decision to restart the Quetta-Chaman passenger train, the railways minister said that it was running successfully and Pakistan Railways had decided to hand over the operation of the Quetta-Chaman train to the private sector, Dawn News reported.
He also said there was a plan to resume services of more passenger trains from Quetta, but due to Covid-19 a large number of people were avoiding travelling by train.
