Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to be inaugurated in Baku

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway, a highly important project that will connect three countries of the region (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey), is today fully ready for operation.

In addition to improving economic relations between the three neighboring countries, the project will create a rail connection between Europe and Asia. The line is intended to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight at the first stage, and then its capacity will gradually increase by three times. 

The official ceremony for inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be held on October 30 in Baku, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov told reporters on October 13. He added that the railway will start transporting passengers from 2018.

Gurbanov also touched upon the local railway transportation in Azerbaijan.

He noted that the cost of travel using the Baku-Ganja high-speed trains will be about $10-$14, according to preliminary estimates.

Gurbanov added that a direct Baku-Nakhchivan railway route will be created after the Iranian section of the North-South corridor is constructed.