Pakistan working on trans-Afghan railway project: PM Sharif

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Islamabad is working on the Trans-Afghan railway project aimed at boosting regional trade and connectivity.

Speaking at the closing session of the Regional Transport Ministers Conference 2025 in Islamabad on Friday, Sharif said Pakistan is advancing several major rail initiatives, including the Trans-Afghan Railway and the Islamabad–Tehran–Istanbul connectivity project.

“Pakistan is now entering the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” he said, adding that greater regional connectivity would unlock new trade routes and drive growth across South and Central Asia.

The Trans-Afghan Railway project, first proposed in 2018, aims to connect Termez in Uzbekistan to Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul in Afghanistan and on to Peshawar in Pakistan.

Once completed, the railway would span over 700 kilometers across Afghanistan, creating a direct land route between Central Asia and the Arabian Sea.

In April this year, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan signed an agreement to begin the feasibility study for the project.