Azerbaijan Railways needs $550M to restore electric train traffic in Absheron
By Amina Nazarli
Two more new high-speed electric trains manufactured by Stadler Rail Group will be delivered to Azerbaijan, said Javid Gurbanov, head of the Azerbaijani Railways CJSC. These trains run on the Baku-Sumgayit route.
"One of the trains will be delivered very soon, while the second one will be delivered to Baku in late December or early January,” he said. “We also have the used trains produced in Riga. We repaired them. They can be used in case of necessity."
Gurbanov said that Stadler Rail Group’s electric trains carry nearly 3,000 people a day, adding that the fare cards are planned to be used in these trains.
At present, three of Stadler’s double-decker trains carry out passengers of Baku-Sumgayit route. The trains have 396 seats, including 84 business class seats, and have a total capacity of 919 passengers. Passengers can enjoy WiFi during their ride.
He further noted that the electric train traffic on the Absheron peninsula will be restored in the future.
"The electric trains will run on the Baku-Zabrat-Pirshagi-Novkhani-Jorat-Sumgait route and through Khirdalan and Bilajari on its way back to Baku,” he said. “This is a great circle. The length of only one line is 91 kilometers, two lines - 180 kilometers."
“The surrounding areas of railway lines are cleared from illegal constructions, communication lines,” he said. "It is necessary to build crossings, install the security fences along the railway line," he said.
Gurbanov said that the total cost of the project is estimated at about $500-550 million.
"Today we can not allocate these funds,” he said. “Therefore, we commissioned Stadler’s trains on the Baku-Sumgayit route and increased their speed. At present, the route can take 40 minutes. We have not commissioned the stations in Khirdalan and Bilajari. But we plan to do this with the support of the government and the profit from the freight traffic growth."
Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, and its industrial city of Sumgayit
were connected with a renovated railway and modern train system
this September.
Currently, nearly 3,000 people use electric trains on Baku-Sumgayit
route, and their number will reach up to 20,000-30,000 people after
the expansion of the route, according to the company’s head.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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