The Azerbaijani and Georgian ministers of foreign affairs, Elmar Mammadyarov and Grigol Vashadze, are satisfied with the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad construction, the ministers said at a joint press-conference in Tbilisi, Trend reports.
The railroad will open in 2012, Mammadyarov said.
The railroad project involves construction of a new 105-kilometer branch, 76 km of which will be in Turkey and 29 km in Georgia. Georgia will reconstruct the Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railroad section, improving cargo transport capacity to 15 million tons annually. Akhalkalaki will have a station where rolling stock can be switched fom Georgian to European rail gauges.
Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mamedov said earlier that the construction of the rail line will be completed in the first half of 2012. The sides are trying to speed up the process and finish work in late 2011.
The initial maximum capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. At the first stage it will transport 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
