Officials within the Afghanistan Railway Authority said that the transportation of commodities via railway has surged by 36 percent.

A spokesman for the ARA, Abdul Sami Durani, said that commodities worth over $4.6 million have been transferred via Hairatan, Aqeena and Torghondi railways.

According to Durani, more than 4.4 million metric tons of commodities have been imported to the country by rail.

“In this period, in total 4.47 million metric tons have been imported. The imports were from the Central Asian countries and mostly included oil and food materials,” Durani said.

The acting head of the ARA, Bakht Rahman Sharafat, said that they made more than three billion Afs in revenue from this department.

“The year before the income was 2.6 billion Afs, and this year it reached 3.1 billion Afs, which was poured into the nation’s savings. It shows a 22 percent increase compared to the previous year,” he said.

The officials also said that the work on the first and second phase of the Khwaf-Herat railway will be completed by the end of 1402.

“These two projects have begun based on the decision of the economic commission of the Prime Minister and cabinet’s decision. It is part of the biggest project of Mazar-e-Sharif, Jawzjan, Faryab, Badghis and Herat provinces,” said Abdul Bari Sediqqi, deputy head of the ARA.

Based on information of the ARA, the two contracts of Khwaf-Herat have so far been implemented.