BTK project nears completion

By Azernews

By Nigar Abbasova

The implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi –Kars railway project, a regional rail link to directly connect participating countries entered its final stage.

The construction work has already been completed by almost 95 percent, Turkish media reported.

The work, supervised by Turkish Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Akhmet Arslan,  is  currently on track regardless bad weather conditions.  The work is being implemented in two shifts in 4 different sections of the line.

Arslan earlier said that a period of 2-3 months is required for full completion of the construction work.

The project, which is expected to be commissioned in 2017, will allow goods to be seamlessly transported by rail and will practically exclude the need for sea transportation, bringing the entire region closer to Europe.  

The fact that all participating countries are also TRACECA members is also considered to be an advantageous feature of the project.  The peak capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons of cargo per year.

Being constructed under a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement, BTK is expected to expand multi-modal transportation opportunities, ensure the growth of passenger and freight transportation and boost the transit potential of the regional countries.