Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction speeding up
Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway has been accelerated, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Transport Musa Panahov said last week.
``There were delays in carrying out construction work in Georgia due to weather conditions, but it is now moving fast,`` Panahov said. ``Work is also in full swing in Turkey. Construction in Georgia and rehabilitation work at the border with Turkey will be completed by the end of the year.``
He said that the delays were mainly due to the construction of a 4.5 kilometer tunnel on the Georgian-Turkish border.
``The presence of landslide areas in Georgia where a tunnel is being built prompted certain adjustments in the process of its construction. This in turn caused some delays, but we will complete the construction of the rail lines before the end of the year,`` Panahov said.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is to be fully operational in the first half of 2013.
The railway is being built in accordance with the Georgian-Azerbaijan-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The throughput capacity of the railway will peak at 17 million tons of cargo per year. Initially, the capacity will be 6.5 million tons of consignments and 1 million passengers.
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