Editing Herat (section)

== Economy and infrastructure ==

===Transport===

====Air====
{{Main|Herat International Airport}}
[[File:Herat International Airport in February 2012.jpg|thumb|[[Herat International Airport]]]]
[[Herat International Airport]] was built by engineers from the United States in the 1960s and was used by the [[Soviet Armed Forces]] during the [[Soviet–Afghan War]] in the 1980s. It was bombed in late 2001 during [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] but had been rebuilt within the next decade. The runway of the airport has been extended and upgraded and as of August 2014 there were regularly scheduled direct flights to [[Indira Gandhi International Airport|Delhi]], [[Dubai International Airport|Dubai]], [[Mashhad International Airport|Mashad]], and various airports in Afghanistan. At least five airlines operated regularly scheduled direct flights to [[Kabul International Airport|Kabul]].

====Rail====
{{Further|Rail transport in Afghanistan}}
[[Rail transport|Rail]] connections to and from Herat were proposed many times, during ''[[The Great Game]]'' of the 19th century and again in the 1970s and 1980s, but nothing came to life. In February 2002, Iran and the [[Asian Development Bank]]<ref>Khaf-Herat railway, http://www.raillynews.com/2013/khaf-herat-railway/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220114246/http://www.raillynews.com/2013/khaf-herat-railway/ |date=2017-12-20 }}</ref><ref>afghanistan railways, 2014, http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/iran-to-herat/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029024246/http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/iran-to-herat/ |date=2014-10-29 }}</ref> announced funding for a railway connecting [[Torbat-e Heydarieh]] in Iran to Herat. This was later changed to begin in [[Khaf, Iran|Khaf]] in Iran, a {{convert|191|km|mi|abbr=on}} railway for both cargo and passengers, with work on the Iranian side of the border starting in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/iran-to-herat/|title=Iran to Herat railway – Railways of Afghanistan|website=www.andrewgrantham.co.uk|access-date=2014-06-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029024246/http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/afghanistan/railways/iran-to-herat/|archive-date=2014-10-29|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view//opening-up-afghan-trade-route-to-iran.html Opening up Afghan trade route to Iran] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101032057/http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/opening-up-afghan-trade-route-to-iran.html |date=2016-01-01 }} [[Railway Gazette International]] 2008-01-29</ref> Construction is underway in the Afghan side and it was estimated to be completed by March 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/60378/rail-linkup-with-afghanistan-by-march-2018|title=Rail Linkup With Afghanistan by March 2018|date=25 February 2017|access-date=1 January 2018|archive-date=22 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922112855/https://financialtribune.com/articles/economy-domestic-economy/60378/rail-linkup-with-afghanistan-by-march-2018|url-status=live}}</ref> There is also the prospect of an extension across Afghanistan to [[Sher Khan Bandar]].

====Road====
The [[AH76]] highway connects Herat to [[Maymana]] and the north. The [[AH77]] connects it east towards [[Chaghcharan]] and north towards [[Mary, Turkmenistan|Mary]] in Turkmenistan. [[Highway 1]] (part of Asian highway [[AH1]]) links it to [[Mashhad]] in Iran to the northwest, and south via the [[Kandahar–Herat Highway]] to [[Delaram]].