Railway Employees Day in Tajikistan Date in the current year: August 17, 2024

The first railroad in what is now Tajikistan was constructed in 1897. It connected Khujand with the railway network of the Russian Empire. However, the “official birth year” of the Tajik railroad is 1929, when the construction of the Termez — Dushanbe railroad was completed. That same year, the first train arrived at the station of Dushanbe. In 1938, the construction of the second railway branch line, Konibodom — Shurab, was completed.

The present-day railway network of Tajikistan consists of two isolated railroad lines: Kulob — Bokhtar (Qurghonteppa) — Yovon — Vahdat — Dushanbe I — Paxtaobod with the branch Bokhtar (Qurghonteppa) — Shahrituz; and Spitamen — Istiqlol with the branch Konibodom — Isfara — Shurab. As of 2016, the total length of Tajikistan railroad system was almost 980 km.

The main railway transport operator in Tajikistan is the State Unitary Enterprise “Tajik Railway”. However, the narrow gauge railroad Proletarsk — Sulukta, which is the only electrified railway in Tajikistan, is owned by the Jabbor Rasulov Loading and Transport Administration. As of 2016, the inventory of the Tajik Railway consisted of 2,068 freight cars, 424 passenger cars, and 54 diesel locomotives.

The Tajik Railway has only one suburban route, Dushanbe — Paxtaobod; domestic routes include Dushanbe — Konibodom, Dushanbe — Kulob, Dushanbe — Shahrituz, and Bokhtar (Qurghonteppa) — Konibodom (both routes to Konibodom are seasonal); international routes include Dushanbe — Moscow, Kulob — Moscow, Khujand — Moscow, and Khujand — Saratov (seasonal). In addition to passenger transportation, the Tajik Railway carries out cargo transportation, both domestic and transit.

Sadly, the development of railway transport in Tajikistan leaves much to be desired for a number of reasons, which include the country’s mountainous landscape, which makes it hard to construct new railway lines and branches, as well as the isolation of the existing railroad lines, the deterioration of locomotives, carriages and infrastructure, and a high dependency on the railway systems of neighboring countries, namely Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

It means that Tajikistani railway employees have to do their job in difficult conditions, so they definitely deserve a professional holiday to have their hard work recognize and rewarded.