BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
Trend:
Turkey will attract new investments to expand the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, Turkish Minister of Transport, and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu said, Trend reports referring to the Turkish media.
"Turkey aims to invest in railway infrastructure,” the minister said. “The Turkish government's agenda includes the construction of new railway lines, including the lines that will connect industrial and production zones directly with commercial ports."
“The construction of a railway network and an increase in investments will allow the country to take a leading position in the field of logistics,” Karaismailoglu said.
"Currently, Turkey has a 600-kilometer tunnel road of state importance and a new 200-kilometer-long tunnel network is being constructed," the minister said.
"We are planning to reduce 50 percent logistics costs to 10 percent," Karaismailoglu added.
The minister stressed that Turkey also plans to increase the volume of cargo transported by railway from 30 million tons per year to 45 million tons over the next three years while by 2028 - up to 150 million tons.
"We are working to attract investments in the Divrigi-Kars railway line, which is one of the main sections of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line,” Karaismailoglu said. “We are striving to increase the capacity of the line from 5 million tons to 20 million tons. In particular, after the recent events in Azerbaijan, we plan to build a new railway line that will pass through Nakhchivan."
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway is a transport corridor connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. The railway was inaugurated during a ceremony organized in Alat settlement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on October 30, 2017, after the first test drive. The total length of the BTK is 846 kilometers.
Within the project, a new 105-kilometer branch of the railway was built, of which 76 kilometers - in Turkey and 29 kilometers - in Georgia.
Moreover, a 183-kilometer section of the Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway was reconstructed in Georgia to increase the throughput of up to 15 million tons of cargo per year.
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