Azerbaijan, Baku, 24 May / Trend / As of preliminary calculations, in 2010, 1.5mln passngers and 3mln tons of cargo will be transported via the Baku -Tbilisi -Kars railway route, Aliashraf Lutvalibekov, Director of Demiryolservice Ltd, a raiway service company, said in an interview for official press statementв.
The project is expected to be completed in 2009. Marmaris project (construction of a tunnel under the Bosporus) will also be completed by that time. That will enable to open a railway line to Europe.
Budget of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars for 2008 totals $107mln.
Azerinshaatservis, an Azerbaijani construction company, which won the tender for construction of the Georgian section of the railway, has already completed its preparations.
The total cost of the contract with Azerinshaatservis makes up $79mln. Construction is expected to be completed by 1 October 2009.
Financing for construction and design work in Georgia, is being carried out through the Azerbaijani credit of $200mln.
The Baku- Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki- Kars project includes the construction of 105km-railway lines, with 76 km section running via Turkey and 29 km section via Georgia. Moreover, 183 km section of Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway will be also reconstructed to improve the carrying capacity to 15mln tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build in Akhalkalaki a place for the transition of trains from the track existing in Georgia to the European one. The project is estimated at $422mln and taking into consideration the accompanying infrastructure its cost will comprise $600mln.