Azerbaijan, Baku, June 25 / Trend A. Taghiyeva /
Azerbaijani, Turkish and Georgian transport ministers will meet in the Turkish city of Kars to discuss the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project, Ihlas agency said on Tuesday.
The meeting will be held from June 26-28, 2013 when ministers will become acquainted with the railway's construction.
It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometre branch railway as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the section of the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway will be reconstructed in Georgia which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build a centre in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European one.
It is expected that around 30 million tons of cargo a year will be transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line each year which will become a direct route to the European rail network.
In future, after the completion of the Marmara project (construction of a tunnel under the Bosporus), the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will provide access to Europe.