Railways to run to popular tourism destinations in Azerbaijan

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Foreigners visiting Azerbaijan will be able to get the popular tourism destinations via another alternative transport – train.   

Azerbaijan Railways is developing a design of railway lines to the Baku International Airport Heydar Aliyev, as well as to the Shahdag and Gabala tourist centers.

Head of Azerbaijan Railways Javid Gurbanov made the statement during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of the first quarter of 2017 and future tasks.

He noted, however, that the project is planned for the far future. "Currently, work is underway to design these lines," added Gurbanov.

Shahdag and Gabala remain the most popular tourist destination in Azerbaijan, hosting thousands of foreigners every year.

The uniqueness of Shahdag ski resorts in Azerbaijan is that they receive visitors both in winter and summer. In hot weather mainly extreme sports are popular, while with the onset of winter skiers and snowboarders flock here.

Gabala, located in the middle of the 2,500-year-old Silk Road, suggests gorgeous historical monuments, which emerge all around the city and its vicinity.

Current condition of national railways and reforms give grounds for looking forward to the future, Gurbanov emphasized.

“At the same time, to achieve the level of developed countries, more work needs to be done in terms of modernization,” he said, adding that special program have been prepaid for the development of the railways.  

In accordance with the investment portfolio, Yalama-Astara railway will be overhauled for the next three years, the Baku-Ganja-Baku high-speed train will be put into operation and the construction of the second railway bridge across the Kura in Yevlakh.

Gurbanov added that after the construction of the Astara-Resht railway in Iran, a train along the Baku-Nakhchivan route will be launched within the framework of the North-South international corridor project.

He reminded that transportation is already carried out through the international high-speed train Nakhchivan-Mashhad-Nakhchivan.

“After construction of the Astara-Rasht railway, the Baku-Nakhchivan train will be launched. This will provide the population of Nakhchivan with easy access to Baku by rail. Travertine, marble, gypsum, "Badamly" and "Sirab" mineral waters produced in Nakhchivan, salt, as well as various agricultural products will be delivered to Baku within 30-32 hours. At the same time, it will be possible to export these exports to the markets of neighboring countries. For this purpose, the process of modernization of the railway economy has been started on the territory of the Autonomous Republic,” he said.