STEEL MAINS OF THE COUNTRY

The domestic railway sector has scheduled the implementation of big projects on electrification, as well as building and reconstruction of more than 960 km of railway in the next five years.

Major efforts will be aimed at the completion of the construction and electrification of the railway line Bukhara - Miskin, electrification of Karshi - Termez, Pap - Namangan - Andijan - Kokand railways, and at the further dynamic development of the industry as a whole. The total investments in the projects have exceeded several billion dollars. 960 km of railway lines will be built and revamped, and about 900 km will be electrified in the next five years alone.

In the early 90s of the last century, the country’s railway economy faced great difficulties. For example, the rail routes, which linked the north-western and south-western regions of Uzbekistan, passed the territory of Turkmenistan, and rail connections between the areas of the Ferghana Valley and other regions passed via Tajikistan.

In such circumstances, in the first years of independence, the republic focused on addressing pressing problems of development of road and transport infrastructure, opening of new routes to global markets, and construction of up-to-date transport communications that would connect the country with the rest of the world. Great efforts were aimed at the construction of railways and creation of a single railway network of Uzbekistan - the country’s transport artery.

The construction of the 700 km railway line Navoi-Uchkuduk-Sultonuvaystog-Nukus, as well as the Central Asia’s only state-of-the-art combined rail and road bridge of 681 meters across the Amu Darya was the first step in this direction. Prior to that, even the neighboring Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region had no internal corridor. It was the first real breakthrough in the railroad sector, which connected the Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region by rail directly with the rest of the country, and thereby remarkably accelerated the delivery time of goods and passengers.

The commissioning of the unique structure, known as the ‘century’s miracle’ - the 223 km railway line Tashguzar-Baysun-Kumkurgan, was the next important step. The project was even more complicated for the engineers: 43 bridges, Kumkurgan, Dehkanabad, Okrabat, Darband and Baysun stations, nine platforms and stops, service points for locomotives and railcars, as well as traffic safety sites. The domestic builders made all the objects true by their own efforts. The highest sections of the road and bridges ran at a height of 1,800 meters above sea level.

The launch of the steel main reduced the distance freight and passenger traffic up to 170 km, or seven hours, and marking another important milestone in the construction of a unified national railway network in our country. Moreover, the project released Uzbekistan from mandatory transit fee of up to $50 million a year, and also provided an additional inflow of foreign currency of up to $15 million for the transit of exported and imported goods from other countries.

The completion of the large-scale project on the construction of 123.1 km of electrified railway line Angren-Pap and the 19.2 km tunnel through the Kamchik pass at an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level, which totaled nearly $1.635 billion, allowed linking the Ferghana Valley region with other regions of the republic. Thus, almost all regions of Uzbekistan are now covered by a unified transport system.

In recent years, Uzbekistan has laid a new railway network with a total length of over 1,200 km, upgraded and revamped more than 3,800 km of roads, and electrified nearly 1,100 km of railway lines. As a result, the total length of railways, covering all regions of our country, has reached 6,500 km.

The railway industry has subdued not only the mountains, but also high speed. In 2011, the Central Asia’s first high-speed communication connected Tashkent with Samarkand. The high-speed route to Karshi was opened last year. More than one million passengers have been transported in bоth destinations.

Thus, measures on the development of the country’s railway network and infrastructure, as implemented by the government, have created better opportunities for sustainable development of business and economy in Uzbekistan as a whole, and allowed reducing the time and transportation costs by several times. Drastically new opportunities have opened up for the business entities who are actively involved in domestic supplies, and for the people who travel across the country.

This is proved by the fact that since the establishment of Uzbekistan Railways, cargo traffic has increased by 1.5 times, passenger transportation - by 1.3 times. Currently, more than 60% of the country’s cargo and over 75% of passengers are transported by rail.

Today, Uzbekistan is the industrial and transport crossroad of Central Asia. Namely the achievements of Uzbekistan in this field have paved the way for the shortest communication between Europe and Asia. Being an essential link in the trans-regional transport corridor, the railways of Uzbekistan occupy a decent position in the international rail transport traffic. The railway mains of our country possess a great transport, communication and transit capacity, bringing together East and West, South and North.

Most importantly, the successful commissioning of the railway line Angren - Pap, the implementation of other large-scale projects in this area have further strengthened the faith of our people, especially the youth, in the feasibility of the most daring and ambitious projects.

In a word, the further development of the railway infrastructure in Uzbekistan will promote the sustainable development of our state and society, bolster its economic power, enhance transit and tourist capacity.

Context

The development of the railway network entails all related sectors of the economy, contributing to the establishment of new small businesses and private enterprises. Objects of social and utility infrastructure, including schools, health facilities, water and gas facilities, are being commissioned along the mains, ensuring comfortable environment for work and life, creating thousands of new jobs.

Jahon Information Agency