Azernews.Az

By Trend

Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have resumed regular bus connection between the two countries since May 15, Russian RIA Novosti reported citing the Uzbek Agency for Road Transport (Uzavtotrans).

The bus connection between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was discontinued in 1992 with the outbreak of the civil war in Tajikistan.

“The first bus run on the Tashkent-Khujand-Tashkent route for the working group with representatives of ministries and state departments, as well as the local media went on May 15 from the Tashkent bus station at 8:30 (GMT +5),” Uzavtotrans said.

The length of the route is 174 kilometers, with the journey taking 4.5 hours. Three bus runs per day are planned to be carried out. The fare of the run will be 50,000 soums (approx. $6).

Uzavtotrans also added that passengers of the bus runs will pass the border through checkpoints for half an hour as a matter of priority.

Bus connection between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan has been resumed since Jan. 8, between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan – in early May. The regular bus connection between the countries have been absent since the mid-1990s.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev called reestablishment of relations with neighbors among the top priorities for the country. In particular, Uzbekistan resumed dialogue on border and water resources issues with Tajikistan

Regular air connection between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, discontinued in 1992 as well, has been resumed since April 2017, while the southern regions of the two countries have been linked by railway connection after the seven-year pause. An intergovernmental agreement on mutual visa-free travels of citizens of the two countries for up to 30 days entered into force at the end of March.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz