Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 4 / Trend /
The Azerbaijani Transport Ministry participates in regular discussions within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. The meeting has been launched in Ankara today and will run until Oct.7, the ministry reported.
Ministry's Security And Emergency Situations Department Head Kazimov Sharifov represents Azerbaijan at the discussions.
The meeting attended by representatives of all three participating countries will consider issues of possible movement of trains traveling on the railroad of the CIS countries, on railways of Turkey and Europe; problems which may arise during this time, and ways to solve them; study of the order of movement of convoys with different cargo from the Akhalkalaki station on the Georgian section of the railway.
A new 105-kilometer branch railroad will be constructed as a part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway. About 76 kilometers will traverse Turkey, with 29 kilometers passing through Georgia. Moreover, an Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase transport capacity to 15 million tons of cargo a year.
Works on opening railway transport on the route of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars will be completed in the first half of 2012, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said earlier. He said despite the previously agreed terms of the project's implementation, the side are working to accelerate the process and complete most of the work before late 2011.