Azerbaijan, Baku/ Trend , corr. I. Khalilova / The Draft-State Programme on Improvement of the railway Infrastructure of Azerbaijan, elaborated by the Azerbaijan Transport Ministry, is currently being agreed domestically, a source in the Ministry has said today. The mentioned programme is being considered for 2007-2010, and the preliminary value of the projects is estimated at over AZN 1bln.
The programme envisages the reconstruction of railways lying on the transport corridors - North-South and TRACECA, renewal of railway economy and infrastructure, electricity supplying system, as well as acquiring new rolling-stock, and increasing the speed on the railways.
The Transport Ministry considers that due to the expected increase in the freight flow, the speed of railway lines should be increased until the building of the railway - Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is completed. According to expectations and forecasts, the speed of transportation of loads is expected to be brought up to 100 km per hour. Passenger carriages are expected to be accelerated up to 160 km per hour.
After the Programme is approved, the sources of financing of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the railway network are determined, but, even today, such influential international financial institutions like WB, EBRD, ADB (Asian Development Bank), and many other have shown their interest in the project.