First freight train to run Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in two months
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The first freight train from Azerbaijan will run to Turkey through Georgia in about two months – the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project is nearing the completion.
As Georgia’s Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced the next stage will be to carry passengers as well.
Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, an important section in the middle of the modern Silk Road, is in the final stage, however it is already possible to travel from Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi to Kars, at the Georgian-Turkish border.
Today Georgia’s Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia together with the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey, Ahmet Arslan and Head of Azerbaijani Railways Javid Gurbanov travelled Tbilisi to Kartsakhi, close to Kars.
Georgia’s Economy Minister Giorgi Gakharia, the Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey, Ahmet Arslan and Head of Azerbaijani Railways Javid Gurbanov together with other officials at the construction site. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Economy.
High officials of all three countries visited the construction site and saw the infrastructural development on place.
It is already possible to travel from Tbilisi to Kars by railway. It will take about 10 days to determine what works are need to be done to complete the railway line,” said Gakharia.
Currently 180 kilometers long Marabda-Kartsakhi district are under rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction process.
Once fully operational about 15 million metric tonnes of cargo will be able to pass through the corridor per year. Initially however, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million metric tonnes of cargo.
Gakharia stated that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway will be a new railway route that will link Europe to Asia. At the same time it would raise Georgia’s transit role, believed the Minister.
Georgia’s Ministry of Economy announced the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway was listed among the world’s most strategically important 100 global projects.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, an important section in the middle of the modern Silk Road, will soon be fully commissioned, increasing connectivity among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, which facilitates the transport of passengers and goods between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, will be fully commissioned at the beginning of 2017.
Georgia has completed building its section of the $600 million USD Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
Construction of the $600 million USD Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be fully completed before November 2016, offering immense benefits to the three countries involved.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has thanked the Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili for his contribution to the successful implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project facilitating the transport of passengers and goods between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
At the opening ceremony in Baku Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated that the railway would "change the current economic reality, providing totally new economic opportunities in the region and beyond.”The PM declared that the coming of the new railway into full force would encourage transit and logistic potential and would further strengthen the region’s trade and transportation status.
The European Union (EU) has welcomed the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and said it is a major step in transport connections linking the EU, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia.
Uzbek national rail carrier company Uzbekistan Railways which owns and operates all railways in the country, is going to launch transit trains to Azerbaijan and Georgia by the spring of 2020, reports the Uzbekistan Railways.