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Qabil Ashirov

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There is quite a lot of passenger traffic on the railway between Sumgait and Baku.

Azernews reports that the Chairman of "Azerbaijan Railways," JSC (ADY), Rovshan Rustamov, said this in a statement to journalists.

He said that at the beginning of last year, 24,000 passengers were transported daily, but now this number is more than 30,000. This is due to the congestion in passenger trains.

He said that train delays happen all over the world.

"Even in cold and abnormal weather conditions, problems can arise. The main reason for this is that the railway infrastructure is very old. The electrical system on the Baku circular railway was built in the 20th century. Although it has been modernised, the road still needs to be overhauled. Currently, a project is being prepared for it. It is planned to completely rebuild the road.

We are thinking of a plan that will not hinder the daily movement of passengers and will carry out a complete reconstruction of this line. It will be necessary to reduce the train intensity. A large amount of investment is required for the implementation of the project. It is being calculated. We are working on improving the health of the railway infrastructure," added the chairman of ADY.

R. Rustamov also says that passenger transport by railway in the southern direction is not on the agenda.

"The opening of the railway line in the southern direction of Azerbaijan for passenger transportation is not on the agenda," Rovshan Rustamov said in a statement to journalists.

According to him, this road can be restored for passenger transportation only after major reconstruction works: "Since the railway line in the southern direction allows moving at a speed of 20 km per hour, it is not considered acceptable for passenger transportation. The railway line in the southern direction is technically only suitable for freight transportation.

R. Rustamov also clarified the issue of dismantling intermediate stations: "During the optimisation, stations located in close proximity can be combined or cancelled."

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