Officials from Railway Authority in Balkh province said the revenues for the past solar year – March 2022 to March 2023 – showed a 33 percent increase compared with the previous year.Head of the department, Mohammad Shafiq Mahmood, said they collected 2.5 billion Afs in the solar year 1401 (March 2022 to March 2023) while it was 1.8 billion Afs in the solar 1400. “This year we had a 33 percent increase in revenue compared with the previous year,” Mahmood said.
Officials from the Chamber of Commerce and Investment said the Balkh railway is one of the key routes for trade, including exports and imports.
“Transfer of goods through railway is an effective and safe,” said Ahmad Shakib Akbari, a member of the chamber.
“If the railway is connected with Kabul, Herat, and Kandahar provinces, it will lead to a major development in trade and transit activities,” said Qalandar, an investor.
According to the railway authority statistics, 2.6 million tons of goods entered the country through the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan in the past year, and 7700 tons of goods were exported to other countries through the route.
