Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 13 /Trend, E.Ismayilov/
Active operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway system designed to connect railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will start from 2013, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said on Thursday during the event dedicated to the Day of railwaymen and the 20th anniversary of state independence of country.
"The commissioning of the railway will enable Azerbaijan to provide access to Europe. The construction work is expected to be completed by the end of 2012," said the Minister.
Totally Azerbaijan has provided $ 850 million for the project implementation, taking into account that work on the territory of Georgia is conducted at the expense of funds allocated by the Azerbaijani side.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is constructed in accordance with the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
Azerbaijan allocated a loan worth $775 million for the construction of the Georgian section. This project is financed by the State Oil Fund according to the Azerbaijani president's decree "On realization of measures on Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project" dated February 21, 2007.
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, and 29 kilometers through Georgia. Moreover, an Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase transport capacity to up to 15 million tons of cargo per 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 corridor's peak capacity will hit 17 million tons. Initially, its capacity will reach 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.