Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Azerbaijani Deputy Transport Minister Musa Panahov has said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be fully commissioned in 2014.

The BTK railway project aims to link directly the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers.

According to Panahov, at present construction work continues at an active pace both in Georgia and Turkey.

"The work within the project continues in order to commission the railway next year," Panahov told journalists on Wednesday.

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

Mammadov then said 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.

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 of the railway 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.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement reached by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The 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.

Azerbaijan has allocated a loan worth $775 million for the construction of the Georgian section of the railway. Funding for the project from the State Oil Fund is carried out in accord with the 2007 presidential decree on taking measures within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project.