The railway meant to give landlocked Central Asia a direct line to the Indian Ocean took another step in May, when Russian Railways said it would carry out technical and economic studies for the project jointly with Uzbek experts. Earlier in 2026, Uzbekistan and Pakistan agreed to begin fieldwork on the route.
The Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway, around 600 kilometres long, would run from Termez in Uzbekistan through Mazar-i-Sharif and Logar in Afghanistan to Kharlachi in Pakistan, connecting to the Pakistani network and on to the ports of Karachi, Qasim and Gwadar. The three governments signed a framework agreement on a joint feasibility study in Kabul in July 2025. Cost estimates run from $5 billion to $7 billion.
Backers say the line could move up to 20 million tonnes of freight a year, cut transit time between Uzbekistan and Pakistan from about 35 days to 3 to 5, and lower transport costs by roughly 40 percent. Construction has been targeted to start this year, with operations between 2027 and 2030.
The line is promoted as Central Asia’s own road to the sea. One of its new study partners is Russian Railways.
The obstacles are well known. The route runs through Afghan territory where security is uncertain, and the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has seen repeated closures and exchanges of fire over the past year, tied to militant attacks Islamabad blames on the Pakistani Taliban. Financing for a multi-billion-dollar line through that terrain remains the open question.