Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 25 / Trend R. Hafizoglu /
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will connect the rail systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. It will be commissioned in 2013, Hulusi Kilic, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said in an interview with Trend.
He said that the project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is one of the most important. The work is underway both on the territory of Georgia and Turkey. It is envisaged that the construction work will be completed by late 2012. The railway line will be commissioned in 2013.
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is a project that will provide transportation from China. It will link Asia with Europe.
"Therefore, Azerbaijan's mediation in this project is important," ambassador said.
A new 105-kilometer railroad branch will be constructed as a part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway. About 76 kilometers will stretch via Turkey, 29 kilometers through Georgia. Moreover, an Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase transport capacity up to 15 million tons of cargo a year. A point of train transition from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European one is planned to be built in Akhalkalaki.
The constriction will be completed in the first half of 2012, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said earlier. He said despite the previously agreed terms of the implementation of the project, the sides are working to accelerate the process and complete most of the work by late 2011.
The peak capacity of the corridor will hit 17 million tons. Initially, the figure will hit 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.