Georgian Ministry of Finance to start talks with EBRD, EIB for Tbilisi Urban Railway project

The Georgian Ministry of Finance will start negotiations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance the Tbilisi Urban Railway project, announced the Minister of Finance Ivane Matchavariani today.

The urban railway would better connect the Georgian capital with its suburbs, particularly with Lilo Market, Tbilisi International Airport and the large Georgian city of Rustavi.

The railway would feed into the underground metro system of Tbilisi connecting at Samgori metro station.

In total seven new metro stations will be added to Tbilisi Metro within the project.

About 20,000 people travel between Tbilisi and Rustavi and they are served by 300 minibuses, said the head of the Transport Service Department of the Tbilisi City Hall Mamuka Mumladze in late June 2017.

He added that the existing railway line from Tbilisi ends in the village of Karajala, near Rustavi and then there is a very small distance and it is possible to connect the line with the city of Rustavi through one single bridge.

The transport hub may be set up at Samgori metro station in Tbilisi. Here passengers will be able to take trains to East Point trade center, Lilo trade center and Rustavi”, said Mumladze.

The estimated cost of the project ranges from $174 million to $218 million.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze spoke about the project in early December 2018 and said that construction work would begin at the end of 2019.