Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 April / Trend corr S. Aliyev/ The stocks of the Azerbaijani State Railway may be sold in 2010, Musa Panahov, Azerbaijani Deputy Transport Minister, said.
The State Program for Development of Azerbaijani Railway in 2008-2011 is expected to be approved and implemented in the near future. Implementation of the program also envisages the sale of the company's stocks. The total cost of the program is AZN 1.252 bln. The first stage will necessitate AZN 759 mln of which $450 mln will be allotted by the World Bank as a credit. This year the Government will allocate AZN 9 mln for the program.
Fifty locomotives are to be purchased. A section of the Baku-Boyuk Kasik railway line (240 km) to Georgia (503 km) will also be completely reconstructed as the first stage of the project. Reconstruction of the railway will increase the speed of the trains from its present 80 km per hour to 100 km per hour.
The program also envisages the reconstruction of the locomotive and carriage fleets of the railway; improvement of the power economy, signals and communication systems; reconstruction of railway economy and the reconstruction of other infrastructures.
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