An Afghan government delegation has signed a new two-year contract with Uzbekistan for the maintenance of the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line.
This comes after Uzbekistan suspended operations early this month for 10 days.
The new contract for the maintenance of the railway line was signed during the Afghan delegation’s visit to Uzbekistan, officials confirmed.
Operations were suspended on February 1, which caused major problems for traders. However, operations resumed on Friday and there has been a steady increase in the volume of goods being transported on the line.
Late last year, Afghanistan signed a contract for the maintenance and management of the line with a Kazakh company but the deal fell through and instead a new agreement was signed with Uzbekistan.
Now however, the contract has been signed with an Uzbek company and is valid for two years.
Meanwhile, an Uzbekistan official said that they will support Afghanistan in its efforts to extend the line to Pakistan.
