Azernews.Az

Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim has said joining the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to the Marmaray railway tunnel construction project will further increase the significance of the rail route -- which aims to link directly the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and is under construction.

Yildirim said in an interview with Ecovision magazine, published by the Azerbaijan-Turkey Business Association, that after the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and Marmaray tunnels are constructed, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia will become the most reliable and stable countries of the Asia-Europe corridor.

The minister said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project will take full advantage of the transport potential of the region.

Yildirim said that Turkey and Azerbaijan have determined the route of the railway, which will connect Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan autonomous republic with Kars, Turkey. The project will create a direct rail link from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey.

The proposed 223-kilometer Kars-Nakhchivan route will connect Kars, Susuz, Diludzhu, and Nakhchivan.

Nakhchivan is in blockade because of Armenia's occupying 20 percent of neighboring Azerbaijan's territory. People arrive in the autonomous republic by air or by road through Iran.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will increase the flow of containers and other types of cargo from Asia to Europe. Its throughput capacity 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.

The railway will be fully commissioned in 2014, while a first test train from Azerbaijan to the Turkish border is planned to be dispatched by late 2012, Azerbaijan Railways chairman Arif Asgarov said earlier.