Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway under a project that is important for increasing the region's transit potential is rapidly continuing, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov has said.

Mammadov told journalists that the construction of artificial facilities on Georgia's s border with Turkey in Akhalkalaki, building of railway stations in Akhalkalaki and Kartsakhi, construction of a 4.2-kilometer tunnel on the Turkey-Georgia border and reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the Marabda-Akhalkalaki region are underway.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project was in focus of the Trilateral Coordination Council of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey at a meeting held March 1-2 in Istanbul. The sides exchanged views on the reforms in the transport infrastructure, development of the relations between Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, the potential for handling transit cargo, etc.

The Azerbaijani delegation was headed at the meeting by Minister Mammadov.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish agreement. Azerbaijan provided a loan worth $775 million for the construction of the Georgian section of the rail line.

Funding for the project from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan is provided according to a presidential decree on the 'Implementation of measures within Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project' dated February 21, 2007.

$431.3 million has been allocated from the start of funding the project until January 1, 2013.

It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometer branch railroad within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway will be reconstructed in Georgia, which will increase the capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is envisioned to build a center in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European system.

Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. The figure will initially be 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.