In January to August 2009, cargo transportation by vehicles made up 122.0 million tons of cargo, or 2.1% more than the same period of 2008. The cargo turnover increased by 5.7 percent.
The private sector share in cargo transportation was 72.9% due to efficient operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
Passenger transportation totaled 858.9 million people or 7.4 percent more than January to August 2008. The share of private sector in the passenger transportation made up 83.1%. The passenger transportation by cars made up 83.1%, metro - 16.3 percent.
In January to August 2009, automobile transport took the lion share in the transport field of the country. The cargo transportation by vehicles made up 58.3mln tons of cargo, or 7.1% more than the same period of 2008. Passenger transportation comprised 713.9mln people with 96.6% people using buses and 3.4% people vehicles. Cargo turnover by vehicles increased by 6.1% compared with the first half of last year, and passenger - 8.3%.
In January to August 2009, the Azerbaijan State Railway Department (ASRD) transported 13.4mln tons of cargo, a decrease of 28% compared to the same period of 2008. The number of loaded carriages dropped 26.2% in average and unloaded dropped by 33.5%. Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction dropped by 15.3% and in western direction by 50.4%, but in the southern direction by 58.3%.
The cargo shipping via sea rose by 14.8% to 8.7 million tons. Transportation of the Kazakh oil also affected the increase. Presently, deliveries are carried out by three Azerbaijani and two Kazakh tankers.
Some 74.6 percent of cargo deliveries fell on oil and oil products, while 25.4 percent was dry cargo. All cargo deliveries were implemented under the international operations. The volume of cargo processed in Azerbaijani ports was 3.3 million tons in January to August 2009, or 10.8 percent less as compared to last year figure. As of August 1, 2009 11,700 tons of cargo left in the ports for import, which is 2.1 times less compared to the same period of last year.
In January-August 2009, the export via oil pipelines made up 33.7 million tons. During this period, 75.6% of oil was transported via the BTC. At the same time in January to August 2009 Kazakh oil transportation via the BTC, which began in October 2008, continued its increase. The transportation made up 1.2 million tons.
Transportation via gas pipelines made up 7.9bln cu.m, or 11.3% more than in January -August 2008. The major reason for the growth is the export of the Azerbaijani gas to the foreign markets. One third of the transported gas fell on South Caucasus Pipeline. About 3.6 billion cubic meters of gas was transported via this pipeline in January to August.
In January to August 2009, the passenger transportation via airways fell by 21% to 724,100 people, including 9.8% implemented by private sector. Greater part (90.2%) fell on public sector. Private sector transportation fell 13.4% and public sector transportation fell 23.6%.
Metro remains the most popular and profitable modes of transport. The Baku Metro conveys 550,000-560,000 passengers per day on average. It conveys around 700,000 passengers on working days.
In January to August 2009, 140.0mln passengers used metro services or 9.2% rise from January to August 2009. The growth is due to improvements in metro work. Due to increase in passengers, the Baku Metro shifted to new schedule. Newly opened station Nasimi and the newly reconstructed Icheri Sheher promoted rise in passenger transportation. Ban on functioning of mini-buses in the center of the city also increased the passenger flow in metro.
In January to August 2009, 24.5mln tons of cargo (a decrease of 13.1%) and 117.0mln passengers (a rise of 6.7%) were transported via the Eurasian corridor.