- Trans Karakum railway
The Trans-Karakum Railway is a 540km long
railway in the central Asian republic ofTurkmenistan . The railway was officially completed on19 February 2006 .The railway took over 1,500 workers more than five years to build, with 800 contractors working in the harsh conditions of the
Karakum Desert . The railway was built using no foreign specialists - only companies and contractors from Turkmenistan were used. The opening ceremony was held atIchoguz (formerlyDarvaza ), where a whitemarble railway station with a capacity of 100 people a day was built for the event.The railway takes 12 hours to traverse, halving the previous travel time between the two cities of
Ashgabat andDashoguz in half by replacing the route from through Mary and Lebap provinces and along the border withUzbekistan with one 700km shorter. There are 17 stations along the entire route, some serving existing villages, and others serving as a drop-off point for planned villages. Over 130 bridges span the various water features, and a new highway is also being constructed alongside the railway. It is the third large-scale project implemented since Turkmenistan's independence. Earlier, a 132km stretch of the 280kmTejen -Serahs -Meshkhed railway as well as the 205km longTurkmenabat -Atamurat railway were built in the country.External links
* [http://turkmenistan.ru/index.php?page_id=3&lang_id=en&elem_id=7712&type=event&sort=date_desc Construction of Trans-Karakum railway nears completion in Turkmenistan] Turkmenistan.ru
* [http://turkmenistan.ru/index.php?page_id=3&lang_id=en&elem_id=7717&type=event&sort=date_desc Northern and southern stretches of Trans Karakum railway connected in Turkmenistan] Turkmenistan.ru
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