Officials say the first train has run on Afghanistan's first major railroad service.
The new line in the country's north should ease the US military's supply flow and is key to future trade.
Deputy Public Works Minister Noor Gul Mangal says the cargo-less train chugged into Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday after a 75 km trial run from the border with Uzbekistan.
It is the first leg stage a plan to link landlocked Afghanistan to its neighbours' extensive railways.
ADB economist Juan Miranda says the $165-million line will release a bottleneck now holding up cargo.
A U.S. Defense spokesman says the railway will speed up supplies coming in to American troops.
The US recently shifted much of its supply line north from routes through Pakistan.
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