The Tajik parliament discussed the Agreement between the governments of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan on cooperation in the field of railway transport. The deputies agreed that the ratification of the document will increase the level of international transport services, export, import and transit of goods by rail between the countries. This was reported by Asia-plus with reference to the press service of the Parliament of Tajikistan.

Parliamentary committees supported the ratification of the Agreement, "which contributes to strengthening bilateral cooperation, increasing trade between the two countries, using transit railways and the Turkmen port of Turkmenbashi across the Caspian Sea to access the railways of European countries."

The possibility of increasing the flow of goods between the countries, including using rail transport, was discussed by the heads of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon during the latter’s visit to Ashgabat in August 2021. At the same time, the President of Turkmenistan proposed using the port of Turkmenbashi for the transit of goods from Tajikistan to the West.

In 2017, a conflict arose between Turkmenistan and Tajikistan due to Dushanbe's unwillingness to build its section of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan (TAT) railway. After the resumption of train traffic between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the need for a TAT branch for Dushanbe disappeared. The Tajik ambassador to Uzbekistan said that the Tajik side intends to "postpone until better times" the idea of building a railway through Afghanistan. The statement outraged the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, which expressed its "lack of understanding."

In July 2019, Tajikistan and Afghanistan agreed on the route of the railway and work began on a feasibility study for the Tajik section, which was scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan