Kazakhstan starts construction of railway to PG

15:27, 14 July 2009

ASTANA. July 14. KAZINFORM Astana begins the construction of part of a tripartite railway linking landlocked Central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan with Iran and the Persian Gulf, Kazinform cites PRESS TV.

The 677-km (421-mile) track will link Uzen in Kazakhstan with Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek in Turkmenistan and terminates in the city of Gorgan in Iran's Golestan province, reported RIA Novosti on July 13.

About 137 km (85 miles) of the railway will be on Kazakh soil, 470 km (292 miles) on Turkmen soil and 70 km (44 miles) on Iranian soil, where it will link with Iran's rail network that goes all the way to the open sea ports of the Persian Gulf.

Turkmenistan had already started working on its section on December 1, 2007 in a ceremony attended by the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

The project is going forward simultaneously in all three countries and the railway is expected to become operational by the end of 2011, Kazinform refers to PRESS TV.

See www.presstv.ir for full version.

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