Opinion: Bridging Histories, Building Futures – Central Asia, Pakistan, and the Dream of a Railway

On 5 September 2025, the Times of Central Asia published an article titled “Trans-Afghan Railway: Can Uzbekistan Build a Railway Through Afghanistan to Reach the Sea?” Reading it stirred something deep within me. The piece was not just about steel tracks or trade corridors - it was about dreams, history, and the future of a region I have long been passionate about: Central Asia. I am not a political analyst; I am an engineer by training and a student of history by passion. Having worked in Afghanistan and witnessed the landscape of its geography and politics up close, I feel a personal connection to the idea of connectivity between Pakistan and Central Asia by rail. This is not just a policy debate for me - it is a lifelong vision tied to my family history, my professional journey, and my fascination with the region’s rich past. When the Soviet Union withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan on 15 February 1989, ending its long and bloody war, the region entered a new and uncertain chapter. That very moment coincided with the beginning of my own career. Just two months earlier, I had started my first job as a Junior Engineer. For me, the Soviet withdrawal was not only a historical milestone; it was also a symbolic reminder of how deeply Afghanistan and its neighbors were tied to global currents of power, conflict, and change. Standing at the threshold of my professional life, I wondered how this region - so often defined by wars - might instead be remembered for bridges, trade, and railways. My fascination with Central Asia is also deeply personal. From my mother’s side, my family traces its lineage back to Bukhara. This explains why many families in Pakistan carry the name Bukhari, as their ancestors once migrated southward from that historic Central Asian city. History was not abstract for me - it lived in the stories of my elders and in the books I devoured as a student. In my school years, I read the Baburnama twice. These memoirs of Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, fascinated me. Born in Andijan in the Ferghana Valley (modern-day Uzbekistan), Babur’s life was a reminder of how Central Asia and South Asia have always been linked - through migration, culture, politics, and ambition. In 1992, I made my first trip to Tashkent. The journey was more than a visit; it was a pilgrimage to the heart of a region I had admired from afar. That first encounter left an indelible mark on me, and more than three decades later, my passion for Central Asia remains unending. Long before modern projects and international agreements, history itself carved the routes of connectivity. The Khyber Pass, lying between present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, has for centuries served as a gateway between Central and South Asia. Caravans laden with silk, spices, and stories once passed through its rugged cliffs. Empires - from the Mughals to the British - understood its importance. And...

Opinion: A Railway to the Future – Uzbekistan’s Bold Path to Connectivity and Carbon Cuts

I still remember the thrill of boarding the sleek high-speed train from Tashkent to Bukhara. What could have been an ordinary journey turned into something unforgettable - the kind of experience that stays alive in the memory long after the trip ends. The speed, the comfort, and above all, the hospitality of Uzbekistan Railways revealed more than just modern engineering; it was a glimpse into the vision of a country determined to connect its people and its future to the wider world. The resonance of this project is deep. The Silk Road was once the artery of global exchange, moving not just goods but ideas, cultures, and entire civilizations between East and West. From Xi’an to Samarkand, Bukhara, and Tashkent, caravans carried silk, porcelain, and paper eastward, while wool, stones, fruits, and glassware travelled west. The CKU Railway is not simply another infrastructure project; it is the revival of this legacy, adapted for the 21st century. By shortening transport routes by nearly 900 kilometers and halving transit times, it promises to transform Uzbekistan’s geographic disadvantage into a strategic strength. For a landlocked country, this is more than steel on tracks - it is a lifeline to global markets. That is where railways carry an underappreciated advantage. Beyond the economics, rail is also a climate solution. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that rail freight is three to four times more energy-efficient than trucks. Trains use 65–80% less fuel per kilogram of cargo. The European Environment Agency calculates that a ton of freight moved by train emits 14–20 grams of CO₂ per kilometer, while the same tonnage on trucks produces 60–120 grams. That is a four- to fivefold difference. If the 20th century belonged to highways, the 21st must belong to railways. To grasp what this means for Central Asia, consider the region’s emissions profile. According to the EDGAR 2023 dataset, annual greenhouse gas emissions (excluding LULUCF, 2022) stand at roughly 320 MtCO₂e for Kazakhstan, 214 MtCO₂e for Uzbekistan, 99 MtCO₂e for Turkmenistan, 22 MtCO₂e for Kyrgyzstan, and 21 MtCO₂e for Tajikistan. Transport is responsible for around a tenth of that, and road freight dominates. The opportunity for reductions through a modal shift is therefore enormous. Take Uzbekistan as a case in point. The country moves about 90 billion ton-km of freight annually, within a regional total of some 350 billion. At present, 70% of this moves by road and 30% by rail. Imagine that by 2035, half of current road freight shifts to electrified rail - around 32 billion ton-km. On trucks, that freight would generate 2.9 MtCO₂e per year. On electrified trains, it would produce only 0.54 MtCO₂e. The savings: 2.4 MtCO₂e annually, or more than 1% of Uzbekistan’s entire national emissions. For a single infrastructure project, that is an extraordinary return in climate terms. The regional potential is just as striking. If similar shifts occurred across Central Asia, annual savings would reach 7–9 MtCO₂e by 2035 - the equivalent of removing two million cars from the road....