Terms of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project named

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway designed to unite the railway system of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, will be constructed in 2012, head of "Azerbaijan Railways" Arif Asgarov told media today.

He said that at present, the construction operations are being conducted in Georgia and Turkey to complete construction this year.

By late 2012 it is planned to launch a work train. The railroad will fully work next year.
In total, Azerbaijan spent $850 million to implement the project, taking into account the fact that the work on the territory of Georgia is carried out through the funds allocated by the Azerbaijani side.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built in accordance with the Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish interstate agreement.

Creating a new rail link envisages construction, rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marabda-Akhalkalaki railway section (except for the station), as well as the construction work from Akhalkalaki to the Turkish border (Kartsakhi).

The reconstruction of Marabda-Akhalkalaki section envisages the work in three phases: Marabda-Tetritskaro section - 29.2 kilometers, Tetritskaro-Tsalka section - 49.7 kilometers, Tsalka- Akhalkalaki-- 74.1 kilometers

Azerbaijan allocated a loan worth $775 million for the construction of Georgia's railway section. This project is financed by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan.

It is planned to build a new 105-kilometer branch of the railroad within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. Moreover, Georgia will reconstruct a section of the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build a point in Akhalkalaki for the trains to move from Georgia's track to the European one.

The corridor's peak throughput capacity will hit 17 million tons of cargo. At the initial stage, this index will hit one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.


/Trend/