Azernews.Az

South Korean specialists are developing a project to speed up the movement of trains from Baku to the Boyuk Kasik area near the border with Georgia, a Korean executive said.
A representative of S Korea's state railway administration said the project, submitted to the Azerbaijani government early last week, is valued at $2.3 billion. He told a seminar in Baku last Wednesday that it has been proposed to implement the project in three stages. First, a rail line linking Azerbaijan's northwestern city of Ganja with the Georgian border will be upgraded. Under the second stage, the lines between Baku and Hajigabul will be renovated, and under the third stage - those between Hajigabul and Ganja will be repaired.
Under the project, the speed of passenger trains is to reach 150 km per hour and that of freight trains at 120 km. The current speed is, at most, 80 km per hour.
If approved, the project will be completed over six years. The work will be funded by joint investments of the government, private banks and other companies.
A similar project may be undertaken in the future to upgrade the railroads stretching to the Russian border.
The Korean official said two such projects, earlier submitted to the Azerbaijan State Railway Office, had not been approved due to their high cost. "But I think the third one we have presented will be of interest for Azerbaijan."