Overview of Tajikistan’s Railway Network
Tajikistan’s railway network is not electrified, runs on diesel powered locomotives with a 1520mm gauge. The Tajik railways consists of 3 main lines:
Northern Line: Kanibadam (Tajikistan) - Bekabad (city in the Tashkent region, Uzbekistan), 109 km.
Central Line: Vahdat-Pakhtaobod (Tajikistan), 89 km.
Southern Line: Kulob-Khoshad (Tajikistan), 296 km.
From Dushanbe there is also a passenger train that runs to the city of Volgograd in Russia.
Key background of Tajikistan’s railway network:There have been no major changes or upgrades to the Tajik railway network since the Soviet era - aside from the Bokhtar–Kulob (built in 1999) and Vakhdat–Yovon line (built in 2016 with Chinese loan).
Tajikistan’s 3 largest trading partners are China, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Foreign goods have to transit Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan before reaching Tajikistan. Road transport is the dominant mode of freight transport.Tajikistan’s transport system faces several challenges: some examples are mountainous terrain; doubly landlocked geography; border closures and passage restrictions by neighbouring countries; and high financing costs.
Ongoing rail projects in the country:Tajikistan and Afghanistan: Jaloliddini Balkhi–Jayhun–Nizhny Pyanj Railway.
The proposed 51 km rail project would extend Tajikistan’s railway network to the border crossing with Afghanistan at Nizhny Pyanj. In August 2024 South Korea and Tajikistan signed an agreement to start a feasibility study for this railway project (see my Diplomat article for more analysis).Tajikistan-Afghanistan- Turkmenistan Railway Corridor: After the goods cross over into Afghanistan they would be transferred back onto rail and travel to Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif to either the Torkham border with Pakistan or towards Turkmenistan. The 65-km railway route from Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif and further on to Turkmenistan has not been constructed yet.
The extension would make up the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway corridor. The line would enable Turkmenistan railway traffic to reach Tajikistan without transiting Uzbekistan. Although preliminary studies were prepared in the past, which estimated the project cost at $128.58 million, the feasibility of the project still needs to be carried out.
Electrification plans: Tajikistan’s railway network is not electrified. In April 2021 the railway companies of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reportedly signed an agreement for the construction of a power transmission line along the Bekabad-Kanibadam-Kokand railway, but so far there has been no progress of this project.
Photos: Back in December 2024 I went to the Dushanbe train station in Tajikistan and saw the DR1A DMU diesal locomotive that was originally built in 1985 in Riga by RVR,a Latvian company that was the largest producer of rail and tram vehicles in the former Soviet Union.
These trains were originally used in Estonia and operated by AS Esti Raudtee (EVR) which is the national Estonian railway operator. In 2014 EVR discontinued operating domestic non-electric passenger train services in Estonia.
You can watch the video of me in Tajikistan as I explore their railways!