Today, Tajikistan's principal railways are in the southern region and connect Dushanbe with the industrial areas of the Gissar and Vakhsh valleys and with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. Tajikistan's railways are owned and operated by Tajik Railway. In the early 2000s, a new railway line from Dushanbe to Gharm to Jirghatol was constructed that would connect the country to Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan while not going through Uzbekistan due to contemporary geopolitical tensions. A proposed line from Dushanbe to Herat and Mashad is also being promoted by the government. On 18 June 2018, the first railway between Dushanbe and Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, completed its trip through Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan region.  Tajikstan's northern railway system remains isolated from its other railway lines, including those of Dushanbe. There is also a service from Dushanbe to Khujand and the northern Uzbek town of Pakhtaabad.