Minister: BTK railway to be ready in late June
By Sara Israfilbayova
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be commissioned in late June 2017, said Ahmet Arslan, Turkish minister of transport, maritime and communication.
The minister announced about this in Kars Province, where he was observing the railway construction process.
Arslan reminded that cargo from China, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan will be delivered to Europe via the BTK through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Turkish media outlets reported.
Relevant bodies are working to eliminate all obstacles for the timely completion of the railway construction, he added.
“Turkish president and prime minister carefully observe the process of the BTK construction,” the minister said, adding the railway is extremely important for Turkey, as it will bring a significant part of cargo transportation to the Turkish territory.
The BTK railway is being constructed on the basis of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey intergovernmental agreement. Peak capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, it will serve one million passengers and transport 6.5 million tons of cargo.
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