Azerbaijan, Baku, May 26 / corr Trend E.Ismayilov /
Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route has been intensified, a source at Azerbaijani Railways JSC said on May 26.
"Work is carried out at full capacity," the source said.
The construction of the Marabda-Akhalkalaki section has been rehabilitated along with construction of new railway section in Georgia's border with Turkey. The rehabilitation work is carried out jointly by a Georgian company and Azerbaijani Azertikintiservis, which won the tender. It is planned to rehabilitate the existing railway route with the length of 160 kilometers.
The railway will be put into operation by the end of 2011.
The project has already determined the winner of the tender for the construction of the railway station Akhalkalaki in Georgia. The winner of the tender was the Azerbaijani Kontur architectural design and industrial company.
Construction of the Akhalkalaki station is scheduled to begin in 2010 and completed in 2011.
A new 105-kilometer-branch of railway is planned to be constructed within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project; 76 kilometers will stretch through Turkey and 29 kilometers through Georgia. Moreover, a 183-kilometer section of railways - Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi - will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase capacity to up to 15 million tons of freight per year. A train transition station, changing trains from the existing tracks in Georgia to European tracks is planned to be constructed in Akhalkalaki.