Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 11 /Trend А.Аkhundov/
France and Azerbaijan have good prospects for fruitful cooperation in railway transport and development of underground railway, said Thierry Mariani, French Secretary of State for Transport, in his iinterview to Trend in Baku.
According to Mariani, he met with the Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Ziya Mamedov and his deputy Musa Panahov. Earlier Friday, Thierry Mariani was received by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
"We held talks on cooperation in many aspects," - said Mariani.
According to him, Azerbaijan has very ambitious plans in the development of railways, particularly in the sphere of improvement of existing roads and laying new ones, acquiring new locomotives to increase passenger and cargo traffic.
Azerbaijan has approved the State Programme for the Development of the railway system in Azerbaijan for 2010-2014 ".
The main objectives of the program are the continuation of reforms and improving the regulatory framework to create opportunities for commercial activities of the railway, the implementation of renewal measures in accordance with the current requirements of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock fleet, providing transportation, the volume of which will be increased after the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
According to Mariani, French companies are interested in participating in projects to improve and extend the Baku underground railway.
Earlier activities on working out the State Program on 20-year development of Baku underground railway were accomplished.
A tender was carried out in order to develop a feasibility study on a promising development scheme. It resulted in the establishment of an international consortium with participation of well-known and highly experienced French company SYSTRA, UK Mott MacDonald and the South Korean Saman, all three specialized in the construction of subways.
According to Mariani, the company SYSTRA, which built one out of three subway station in the world, will work to improve older stations of the Baku underground railway, automation control formulations (movement without drivers), which is already used around the world, building new stations and increasing the length of underground lines.
The visit of French Secretary of State to Baku started on February 10 and will last until February 12.
According to Mariani, who previously was the member of French Parliament, this is his fifteenth visit to Azerbaijan and the first visit in the position of Secretary of State for Transport.
"I know Azerbaijan well. . Before becoming a representative of the government I was a member of Parliament and familiar with local MPs.
They have given me faith in the dynamic development of Azerbaijan. Following the appointment to the current post It is my first visit outside Europe, and I hope that work I am performing will benefit both countries, "- said Mariani.