A US $195 million loan has been agreed by the World Bank to support the construction of the Pap-Angren Railway Project in Uzbekistan.
The 124-kilometre electrified railway includes a 19.2-kilometre rail tunnel through the Kamchik Pass in eastern Uzbekistan.
The line will not only improve connectivity in the Ferghana Valley, it will contribute to Corridor 2 – a proposed east-west transport route from China to the Caucasus – of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Programme.
Uzbekistan Railways predicts that around 600,000 passengers and 4.6 million tonnes of freight will use the corridor within its first year of operation.
The majority of the US 1.6 billion project is being jointly funded by Uzbekistan Railways, the state, the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan, China Exim Bank and the World Bank.
