SPEEDY ROUTES

The national railroad workers are completing a project aimed at launching a new high speed railroad between Tashkent and Bukhara.

As part of this initiative, a new site, Marakand-Navoi, spanning 140.2 km was built from the beginning of the year. Now the railroad line from Navoi to Bukhara has been adapted to the movement of 160 km per hour speed, and more than 220 different facilities – pedestrian crossings, overpasses, bridges and stations – have been built.

The total cost of construction of the line has exceeded $ 400 million. After the line is launched, time of delivery of passengers and cargo will be reduced from 7 hours to 3.5 hours, while operating expenses by almost 30%.

To ensure effective use of the route, Uzbekistan Railroads company signed a contract with the Spanish company Talgo. The contract will pave way for the purchase of four main and 20 passenger cars as well as two dining cars. These will be made into two rolling stocks, each of which will carry up to 287 passengers.

Eighteen passenger cars and four main cars by Talgo have been riding on the national railroads. They have been named after the ancient city of Afrosiyob and service passengers traveling from Tashkent to Karshi and vice versa.

Currently, Uzbekistan ranks 17th among countries with the most developed high-speed railroads, according to GoEuro. According to the rating, the record speed of high-speed trains is 255 km per hour while operational speed 250 km per hour. High-speed transportation accounts for 8.2% of the country’s railroad infrastructure.

THE NEWSPAPER "UZBEKISTAN TODAY"