Afghanistan announced that construction has begun on the final phase of the Herat-Khaf Railway, a strategic infrastructure project that will for the first time directly connect Afghanistan to Iran’s rail network.
According to Mohammad Ishaq Sahibzada, Deputy Minister for Railways at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works, work has commenced on the last 47-kilometer (29-mile) stretch of track. The project, valued at $54 billion, is being financed by the Afghan government and is now nearing completion, with the final section already estimated to be 90 percent finished. Officials expect the railway to be fully operational by the end of this year or early 2026.
The Herat-Khaf Railway consists of four phases, two in each country. Iran has already completed its portion of the line, while Afghanistan previously finished one phase. Construction on the remaining segment was delayed following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021 but resumed in 2023 after Kabul and Tehran began normalizing relations. A trial run on the existing sections was successfully carried out in May of that year.
Once operational, the railway will connect Afghanistan’s western hub of Herat—including its industrial district and international airport—to Iran’s Khaf region. It will also provide a crucial link to Iran’s Chabahar Port, offering Afghanistan its first reliable rail-based access to the sea. Officials project that Afghanistan will be able to export at least 100,000 tons of goods annually through the route, significantly boosting the country’s trade capacity.
The Herat-Khaf line also represents a cornerstone of Afghanistan’s wider ambition to position itself as a regional transport hub. With its location at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Asia, Kabul is promoting infrastructure projects that link it to neighboring economies. Earlier this year, Afghanistan began construction of a road through the mountainous Wakhan Corridor to China’s Xinjiang region, part of long-term plans to serve as a trade corridor between Iran and China.