Baku-Sumgayit railroad construction finalizes
By Nigar Orujova
Railroad connection between capital Baku and industrial city of Sumgayit will soon restored, as construction reaches a new stage.
A modern two-storey administrative building will be built on the site of the present railway passenger station in Sumgayit, said Nadir Azmammadov, the head of the press service for Azerbaijani Railways.
At present, work is underway to demolish the old station, he added.
Azmammadov noted that the construction of a bypass railway section of 1.65 km has begun in the area in the direction of the Sumgayit station, but without entering the main station of the city.
“First and foremost, railroad points will be mounted in this area. At the same time, construction work is coming to an end at the stations all over the Baku-Sumgayit railroad,” he said.
High-speed double-decker Stadler trains will begin operating on the Baku-Sumgayit route from September 15.
An overhaul of 61 km of the total 63 km of the Baku-Sumgayit route has already been completed. Azerbaijani Railways is building two new platforms at the railway station in Sumgayit and a new platform at the Baku station.
Laying the last stretch of rail linking the Baku-Khirdalan-Sumgayit stations will start tomorrow, Azerbaijani Railways reported.
As of now, the electric trains that run between Azerbaijan’s two biggest cities Baku and Sumgayit on the Baku-Balajari-Sumgayit route arrive at their destination in one hour 22 minutes. After the renovation, the time will be reduced to 40 minutes.
On the Baku-Zabrat-Sumgayit route, trains currently arriving at the station in one hour 29 minutes will make the trip in 52 minutes after the renovation.
At present, Azerbaijan has three double-decker trains with two more trains to arrive by the end of the year.
The KISS double-decker electric railcar was produced at the Stadler Minsk factory by the Stadler Rail Group Company. The train has 396 seats, including 84 business class seats, and has a total capacity of 919 passengers.
A one-way ticket will cost about 50-70 qepik ($0.47- $0.66) for the trip.
In the future, the trains will carry passengers on the 91 km long circular Baku-Sumgayit-Baku route, which is currently being renovated.
Ten trains are expected to operate on the circular route. The average speed on the new railway line will be 63 kilometers per hour. The rail line will have 23 stations and stops.
Azerbaijan Railways 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 in Baku this May.
The contract is worth about 60-70 million euros, which is to be paid to Stadler Rail Group within 20 years with the help of revenues generated from passenger transportation.
--
Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz