Uzbek PM Abdulla Aripov attended the ceremony held on the occasion of the inauguration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, which was also attended by President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev of Kazakhstan and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili of Georgia.
Making a speech at the inauguration, PM Abdulla Aripov thanked President Aliyev for hosting the ceremony, and emphasized that they, by realizing the railway project, have taken a huge step towards future.
The project is part of a big Silk Road a key component of a plan to create a new rail corridor linking Europe and Turkey with China.
The project involved constructing a new 105km standard-gauge line from Kars, Turkey, to Akhalkalaki in Georgia, where a new transhipment terminal has been constructed. Georgian Railways’ 1520mm-gauge line from Akhalkalaki to Marabda near Tbilisi has also been reconstructed for its new role as an international corridor.
Construction began in 2008 and the project was originally scheduled for completion in 2010, but the opening date has been repeatedly pushed back.
Commercial operations on the corridor are expected to begin before the end of this year and annual volumes of around 6.5 million tonnes are forecast for the initial phase of operation.
