HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan and Iran jointly inaugurated a main railway after two freight trains officially traveled along Herat-Khaf railway project, linking Afghanistan's western Herat province with Khaf city of Iran, general director of Afghanistan railway authority said Thursday.
"The Herat-Khaf railway project is inaugurated Thursday with a construction cost of about 75 million U.S. dollars," director Yamma Shams told a ceremony held in Ghoryan district of Herat.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani participated in the inauguration ceremony via video conferencing.
On Thursday, 140 km out of the 225-km railroad was launched and the rest will be constructed in the next phase within eight to nine months.
After the construction of the last part of the railway, trains will reach a station in an industrial hub on the outskirts of Herat city, 640 km west of the Afghan capital Kabul.
On Dec. 3, the first trial freight train from Iran arrived in Ghoryan, carrying 500 metric tonnes of cement.