Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TASHKENT1577
2009-11-12 04:48:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tashkent
Cable title:
UZBEK RAIL: RED HOT WHEELS TO AFGHANISTAN
how-toVZCZCXRO6199 RR RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW DE RUEHNT #1577/01 3160515 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 120448Z NOV 09 FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1513 INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE CIS COLLECTIVE RHMFISS/CDR USTRANSCOM SCOTT AFB IL RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0102 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0005
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001577
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/12
TAGS: ECON EAID ECIN ELTN PREL AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEK RAIL: RED HOT WHEELS TO AFGHANISTAN
REF: 09 TOKYO 2590
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert McCutcheon, Econ Officer, State, Pol/Econ
Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001577
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/12
TAGS: ECON EAID ECIN ELTN PREL AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEK RAIL: RED HOT WHEELS TO AFGHANISTAN
REF: 09 TOKYO 2590
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert McCutcheon, Econ Officer, State, Pol/Econ
Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
1. (C) SUMMARY. Railroad engineer Michael Klaus (protect) told us
that Uzbekistan Railroads is having difficulty operating freight
trains on its new Karshi-Termez line. Obsolete locomotives with
inadequate brakes result in multiple delays and wheels that glow
red hot by the time a train has completed the mountain crossing.
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is set to fund
a five-year project to electrify the line, but other projects are
competing to get JICA's first priority attention. Given the
importance of the Karshi-Termez line to the Northern Distribution
Network, Post suggests the Department consider approaching Tokyo to
ensure that electrification of the Karshi-Termez line receives top
priority. END SUMMARY
ELECTRIFICATION OF THE KARSHI-TERMEZ LINE
--------------
2. (C) On November 9 we met with railroad engineer Michael Klaus,
Team Leader with Japan Transportation Consultants (protect). Klaus
is heavily involved as a consultant in the construction and
operation of Uzbek Railroad's new line through the mountains from
Karshi to Termez. The natural, geographically dictated routing
from Karshi to Termez is via Turkmenistan, but after independence
in 1991, the GOU made the strategic decision to reduce its
dependence on routes through now foreign territory. This new
line, partially funded by JICA, avoids Turkmen territory but has to
contend with steep mountain grades. The first trains rolled down
the new track in early 2009.
3. (C) Klaus told us that there have been difficulties operating
trains over the Karshi-Termez line. Most locomotives used by Uzbek
Railroads are built to the same design as U.S. lend-lease
locomotives given to the Soviet Union in World War II. Soviet
engineers copied this design and used it to produce locomotives
that came to form a significant portion of Soviet rolling stock.
The problem with Uzbekistan's legacy Soviet locomotives is that
they were never intended for use in mountainous terrain. They have
inadequate brakes and must be operated at slow speed. On the
descents, the brakes in all wagons are applied continuously, thus
necessitating frequent stops so that the wheels can cool. Klaus
told us that by the time trains have descended from the mountains,
the wheels are glowing red hot.
4. (C) The Karshi-Termez line carries Northern Distribution Network
(NDN) rail traffic to supply U.S. forces in Afghanistan. According
to Klaus, however, because of the difficulties of using the
Karshi-Termez line, Uzbek Railroads has been forced to send roughly
half of NDN traffic via the old route through Turkmenistan. For
this service Turkmenistan is charging an $8 USD per ton service
fee.
5. (SBU) Klaus told us that the next phase for the Karshi-Termez
rail line will be electrification. This will be accomplished in
four stages over a five-year period, with the steepest grades being
electrified first. The cost is expected to be $550 million USD;
this includes provision for purchase of Chinese manufactured
electric locomotives.
6. (C) Only when the electrification program is complete will the
Karshi-Termez line be able to transport freight at full capacity.
Klaus told us he is worried, however, that the electrification
program is competing for priority within JICA with a program to
rebuild power generation stations in Uzbekistan. (NOTE: We
believe Klaus is referring to the project to upgrade and reequip
TASHKENT 00001577 002 OF 002
the Tashkent Power Plant, for which JICA is to provide
approximately $410 million USD. End Note.) One program will be
funded to begin in 2010, and the other will be funded to start in
2011. Klaus told us his JICA contacts in Tashkent had intimated to
him that a well placed word from the USG could influence the
decision on which program gets the higher priority.
ROLLING ON BRITTLE TRACKS
--------------
7. (C) Klaus told us he was appalled at how long it takes to
transport anything by rail in Uzbekistan. About 70 percent of rail
traffic is freight, but a typical train carries only half the
freight per wagon as a U.S. wagon -- 50 tons instead of 100 tons.
From conversations with Uzbek engineers, Klaus said the limitation
appears to be not the trains but the quality of the steel used in
the tracks. He described the tracks as brittle and thus subject to
fracture if higher loads are transported.
AFGHAN RAILROAD
--------------
8. (C) On the ADB-funded 70-80 km rail link from Hayraton to
Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, Klaus claimed that Uzbek Railways
had padded the construction cost by more than a factor of two.
Whereas the rule of thumb for railroad construction in the U.S. is
$1 million USD per mile, the budget for the new rail line in
Afghanistan is $160 million USD. For a line that will not span any
major rivers or face other geological impediments, the main
challenge will be security, not engineering.
COMMENT
--------------
9. (C) Klaus' description of current operations on the
Karshi-Termez rail line is cause for concern. Klaus underlined
this by saying he himself refused to travel on the line under
current conditions. His description of wheels that are red hot by
the end of the mountain crossing implies that a train wreck is
possible in the literal sense. Given this and the importance of
the line to NDN, Post believes the Department should consider
approaching authorities in Tokyo so that the Karshi-Termez
electrification project gets top priority. We believe that Japan's
support for the rail electrification project would contribute to
Afghan reconstruction in a way that is compatible with the new
Japanese Government's approach (reftel).
NORLAND
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/12
TAGS: ECON EAID ECIN ELTN PREL AF UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEK RAIL: RED HOT WHEELS TO AFGHANISTAN
REF: 09 TOKYO 2590
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert McCutcheon, Econ Officer, State, Pol/Econ
Office; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)
1. (C) SUMMARY. Railroad engineer Michael Klaus (protect) told us
that Uzbekistan Railroads is having difficulty operating freight
trains on its new Karshi-Termez line. Obsolete locomotives with
inadequate brakes result in multiple delays and wheels that glow
red hot by the time a train has completed the mountain crossing.
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is set to fund
a five-year project to electrify the line, but other projects are
competing to get JICA's first priority attention. Given the
importance of the Karshi-Termez line to the Northern Distribution
Network, Post suggests the Department consider approaching Tokyo to
ensure that electrification of the Karshi-Termez line receives top
priority. END SUMMARY
ELECTRIFICATION OF THE KARSHI-TERMEZ LINE
--------------
2. (C) On November 9 we met with railroad engineer Michael Klaus,
Team Leader with Japan Transportation Consultants (protect). Klaus
is heavily involved as a consultant in the construction and
operation of Uzbek Railroad's new line through the mountains from
Karshi to Termez. The natural, geographically dictated routing
from Karshi to Termez is via Turkmenistan, but after independence
in 1991, the GOU made the strategic decision to reduce its
dependence on routes through now foreign territory. This new
line, partially funded by JICA, avoids Turkmen territory but has to
contend with steep mountain grades. The first trains rolled down
the new track in early 2009.
3. (C) Klaus told us that there have been difficulties operating
trains over the Karshi-Termez line. Most locomotives used by Uzbek
Railroads are built to the same design as U.S. lend-lease
locomotives given to the Soviet Union in World War II. Soviet
engineers copied this design and used it to produce locomotives
that came to form a significant portion of Soviet rolling stock.
The problem with Uzbekistan's legacy Soviet locomotives is that
they were never intended for use in mountainous terrain. They have
inadequate brakes and must be operated at slow speed. On the
descents, the brakes in all wagons are applied continuously, thus
necessitating frequent stops so that the wheels can cool. Klaus
told us that by the time trains have descended from the mountains,
the wheels are glowing red hot.
4. (C) The Karshi-Termez line carries Northern Distribution Network
(NDN) rail traffic to supply U.S. forces in Afghanistan. According
to Klaus, however, because of the difficulties of using the
Karshi-Termez line, Uzbek Railroads has been forced to send roughly
half of NDN traffic via the old route through Turkmenistan. For
this service Turkmenistan is charging an $8 USD per ton service
fee.
5. (SBU) Klaus told us that the next phase for the Karshi-Termez
rail line will be electrification. This will be accomplished in
four stages over a five-year period, with the steepest grades being
electrified first. The cost is expected to be $550 million USD;
this includes provision for purchase of Chinese manufactured
electric locomotives.
6. (C) Only when the electrification program is complete will the
Karshi-Termez line be able to transport freight at full capacity.
Klaus told us he is worried, however, that the electrification
program is competing for priority within JICA with a program to
rebuild power generation stations in Uzbekistan. (NOTE: We
believe Klaus is referring to the project to upgrade and reequip
TASHKENT 00001577 002 OF 002
the Tashkent Power Plant, for which JICA is to provide
approximately $410 million USD. End Note.) One program will be
funded to begin in 2010, and the other will be funded to start in
2011. Klaus told us his JICA contacts in Tashkent had intimated to
him that a well placed word from the USG could influence the
decision on which program gets the higher priority.
ROLLING ON BRITTLE TRACKS
--------------
7. (C) Klaus told us he was appalled at how long it takes to
transport anything by rail in Uzbekistan. About 70 percent of rail
traffic is freight, but a typical train carries only half the
freight per wagon as a U.S. wagon -- 50 tons instead of 100 tons.
From conversations with Uzbek engineers, Klaus said the limitation
appears to be not the trains but the quality of the steel used in
the tracks. He described the tracks as brittle and thus subject to
fracture if higher loads are transported.
AFGHAN RAILROAD
--------------
8. (C) On the ADB-funded 70-80 km rail link from Hayraton to
Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, Klaus claimed that Uzbek Railways
had padded the construction cost by more than a factor of two.
Whereas the rule of thumb for railroad construction in the U.S. is
$1 million USD per mile, the budget for the new rail line in
Afghanistan is $160 million USD. For a line that will not span any
major rivers or face other geological impediments, the main
challenge will be security, not engineering.
COMMENT
--------------
9. (C) Klaus' description of current operations on the
Karshi-Termez rail line is cause for concern. Klaus underlined
this by saying he himself refused to travel on the line under
current conditions. His description of wheels that are red hot by
the end of the mountain crossing implies that a train wreck is
possible in the literal sense. Given this and the importance of
the line to NDN, Post believes the Department should consider
approaching authorities in Tokyo so that the Karshi-Termez
electrification project gets top priority. We believe that Japan's
support for the rail electrification project would contribute to
Afghan reconstruction in a way that is compatible with the new
Japanese Government's approach (reftel).
NORLAND