First freight train to run Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in two months

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.