Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 31
By Kamalya Seyidova - Trend:
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be used for tourist purposes as well, Vugar Shikhammadov, head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, told Trend Jan. 31.
He said that the rail transport is one of the long-used modes of transport.
“One will be able to travel to all districts of Azerbaijan by using this transport,” he noted. “Rail transport is used in domestic tourism, particularly on holidays.”
Shikhammadov stressed that in domestic tourism, a sufficient number of people use trains.
“Regarding international transport, we think that after the operation of the BTK railway starts, tourism experts will think about this, considering international experience,” he said. “This route will be beneficial both for local citizens traveling abroad and for tourists coming to Azerbaijan.”
He added that the choice of a convenient mode of transport will depend on tourists.
“Some people choose air transport or private car, and some prefer train, because usually railway trips are implemented in the mornings or in the evenings, and this is also convenient for tourists,” Shikhammadov said.
The official opening ceremony of the BTK railway was held in Baku Oct. 30, 2017. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The railway’s peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.