After eight years of talk, regional governments are taking concrete steps toward building a trans-Afghan railroad from doubly landlocked Uzbekistan to Pakistani ports after all three countries signed a framework agreement. The project, first pitched in 2017, would see rails extend about 400 miles, or 650 kilometers, from the Uzbek border at Termez southeast across Afghanistan past Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul to the Pakistani border at Parachinar, where it will connect with the Pakistani rail network. Pakistani officials have pledged to enhance the…