The first train on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor (BTK) will set out in September 2017,
says
Turkish Minister of Transport, Shipping and Communications Ahmet Arslan.
The minister recently took part in a ceremony launching a test train from Turkey via the BTK railroad.
“The first ride on this international route will be carried out in September of this year. Cargo can be sent from China to London”, the minister said.
At the same time, he said that it will be possible to transport 34-35 million tons of cargo per year via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
“At the initial stage, BTK is expected to transport up to 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. Our medium-term goal is to reach a transportation level of 20-22 million tons of cargo per year along this corridor”, Arslan said.
On February 7, 2007, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor.
The project
includes
the construction of the 98 km long Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, of which 68 km will pass through Turkey, 30 km through Georgia, and the reconstruction of the 183-km section of Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi in Georgia.
The construction of the Georgian part is financed by Azerbaijan, which allocated two concessional loans to Georgia for a total of $775 million.
