Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 14 / Trend, E. Ismayilov /
Construction of a new railway line from the Azerbaijani-Turkish border to the Turkish city of Kars can be launched after completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway's construction, head of the press service of Azerbaijan Railways JSC Nadir Azmammadov told Trend on Monday.
He said planning for a new railway, which will connect the Nakhchivan AR and Kars, is underway."The implementation of the new railway project will most likely begin after completion of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway's construction, as this is more reasonable", Azmammadov said.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be commissioned in 2014.
Earlier, the deputy head of the company Gurban Nazirov said that construction of the railway from the Azerbaijani-Turkish border to Kars could cost one billion dollars. At present, there is no railway line at this site. A 240 kilometers long railroad has to be constructed.
It is possible that the railway's construction in Turkey will be carried out by credit granted by Azerbaijan.
Nazirov said to improve the quality of railway infrastructure, reconstruction and modernization of the existing 240 kilometer Ordubad-Sederek railway line bordering with Turkey and a carriage fleet is planned in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. According to preliminary estimates, in total, this modernization work will require about $ 700 million.