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Longest BTK freight train reaches Baku

22 April 2020 17:39 (UTC+04:00)
Longest BTK freight train reaches Baku

By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

The longest freight train to have ever operated on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway (BTK) connecting Europe and Asia has already arrived in Baku, local media reported with reference to “Azerbaijan Railways” CJSC on April 21.

The 940-meter train, consisting of 82 containers carrying various Turkish products, departed from the Eastern Turkish province Kars. It will stop in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, before reaching its final destination, Uzbekistan.

It was mentioned that the train is expected to move from Turkey to Uzbekistan within nine days.

The operator of transportation via Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan is ADY Container LLC, a subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways.

The last destination of the 20 containers on the block train is Azerbaijan. Thirty of the containers will be shipped from Alat port (Azerbaijan) to Turkmenbashi (Turkmenistan), 24 to Aktau (Kazakhstan), and 8 to Kuryk ports (Kazakhstan).

It should be noting that foreign trade for many countries has come to a near halt due to the worldwide measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while railway transportation has gained new momentum as more cargo can be carried in a single round with less human interference.

In this regard, BTK is rather significant during this process for the regional countries.

According to the statement of the Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu, all transportation operations are carried out without human contact and follow strict disinfection processes.

Karaismailoğlu explained that since March 3, when the BTK line resumed after a short suspension, a total of 55,000 tons of goods were transported on the line with 1,350 wagons.

Meanwhile, 100,000 tons of goods were also transported to and from Iran on railways during the same period, with 3,000 wagons, he added.

Note that Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway was launched on October 30, 2017. The railway line simplifies the access of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan to Europe and world markets. The 504 km-part of the BTK, which is 846 km in length, passes through Azerbaijan, 263 km through Georgia, and 79 km through Turkey.

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