Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 17 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
The work on designing a 4.2-kilometer tunnel, to be built on the site Turkey-Georgia, as well as the station for changing wheelsets in Akhalkalaki within the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, has been completed, Azerbaijani Deputy Transport Minister Musa Panahov said in an interview posted on the website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is designed to connect railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
He said that in particular, land operations and construction of artificial structures on the Akhalkalaki-Kartsakhi section (border with Turkey) are under preparation. The construction of the station building in Kartsakhi is underway.
The work on the construction of 46 drainage, five bridges and road junctions, as well as laying of 2.5 kilometers of upland channels has been completed, Panahov said.
Deputy Minister noted that the work within this project will be implemented in three phases. The first phase has already been launched.
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 construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, which will connect the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, will be completed in the first half of 2012, Mammadov told Trend earlier. But, despite the agreed terms of the implementation of the project, the sides are working to accelerate the process and complete most of the operations by late 2011.
The corridor's peak capacity will hit 17 million tons. Initially, its capacity will reach 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
