Double-decker trains arrive in Baku
By Nigar Orujova
The new double-decker trains have arrived in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku.
Azerbaijan Railways Company reported that the trains are now in depot - the train launch date is still uncertain.
Azerbaijan Railways Company and Switzerland’s Stadler Rail Group signed a contract on the purchase of five KISS double-decker trains at the 14th International Transport, Transit and Logistics Exhibition, TransCaspian 2015 in Baku this May.
Nadir Azmammadov, head of press service, noted that currently replacement of access roads and construction works are underway at the railway station of Baku.
The new trains will consist of four cars that will accommodate an estimated 919 people. There will be 396 seats in each train, 84 of which are business class seats.
Azerbaijan Railways and Stadler Rail Group are negotiating the modernization of the railway system In Azerbaijan.
The contract is worth about 60-70 million euros, which are to be paid to Stadler Rail Group within 20 years with the help of revenues generated from passenger transportation.
The trains will be first used during the First European Games between the Baku Railway Station and the Koroglu Metro Station, near Baku Olympic Stadium.
Following, they will be used on the Baku-Sumgayit railway, which runs across 43 kilometers. The railway will open up access to the industrial city located some 30 km north of the capital in 40 minutes.
At present, some 110,000 cars run between Baku and Sumgayit on a daily basis, carrying about 200,000 people. At the initial stage, it will be possible to transport 15,000 passengers by electric trains, which will reduce road traffic.
Travel cost on this route will be based on the population's current expenditures which now stands at average one manat (about $ 0.95) a day.
Moreover, Azerbaijan will receive its first freight locomotive from the French Alstom company next year. The contract stipulating the delivery of 50 freight locomotives to the Azerbaijani Railways company was signed last year.
--
Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz