Afghanistan, Iran and Türkiye have agreed to jointly construction the Herat-Mazar-i-Sharif railway. The agreement was reached on 22 October 2025 at the Regional Assembly of the International Union of Railways in Istanbul. According to sources, each party will contribute financial, technical, and human resources to the project. The $10 million technical and economic feasibility study is scheduled for completion by March 2026, with cargo trials on the new transport route to follow a year later.
The extension of railway lines along Afghanistan’s northern provinces is consistent with the current geopolitical context of intercontinental connectivity along the East-West axis, in which Afghanistan is positioned as a Eurasia’s key transit hub. This process marks another milestone in the practical implementation of the Five Nations Railway Corridor (FNRC) concept, initiated in the early 2000s. The 2,100-kilometre route has a single 1,435 mm gauge and crosses the borders of China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran, with further access to Türkiye and the European Union. The FNRC is designed to provide the shortest land connection between East Asia, the Middle East and Europe, posing serious competition to all existing transit routes from China to the EU via Central Asia. This development could have long-term consequences for Uzbekistan and its transit capabilities.
In theory, the launch of the railway from Herat to Mazar-i-Sharif will provide Tashkent additional access to Iran’s road transport and port infrastructure, bypassing Turkmenistan. However, this advantage will not have the desired effect unless the country participates in developing the Five Nations Corridor. On the contrary, it will contribute to the redistribution of potential cargo traffic along the China–Europe–China axis in favour of Iran and Tajikistan.
Tehran took an important first step in implementing the FNRC strategic initiative by launching the construction of the 225 km Khaf-Herat railway line in its territory in 2007. The final section is expected to be commissioned by next year. Once completed, the project will enable Afghanistan and Iran to transport up to 3 million tons of cargo across their shared border each year, most of which will be transit flows. In March 2025, 200 tons of Afghan food products were transported to the EU via the Khaf–Herat route. In future, the extension of the railway to Afghanistan’s north-eastern provinces, and then on to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, could see cargo flows going in the opposite direction, with final delivery to the Chinese market.
Due to a significant reduction in transit time and distance, the new route will obviously be more preferable than transport corridors passing through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to the West. These three Central Asian republics are actively involved in developing the Southern Railway Corridor to the EU via Iran and Türkiye. It is estimated that connecting the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, construction of which began in April 2025, with the Southern Corridor will shorten the trade route between East Asia and Europe by 900 km. This would give Tashkent a competitive advantage in interregional transit transportation. However, Uzbekistan risks losing this opportunity if the Five Nations Corridor continues to be intensified.
As a preventive measure, it is recommended that the prospect of creating a China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Tajikistan-Uzbekistan railway corridor with the potential for extension to Afghanistan and Iran, is considered. This would mitigate the consequences of the FNRC activation for Uzbekistan and turn the country into one of the beneficiaries of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railway project.
* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.
