Experts will hold a meeting in Istanbul in the first decade of March on the project of building Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway. During the meeting expert opinion on the project will be examined, then the report abstract will be submitted for consideration of transport ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. The project costs $400 million plus additional $200 million for auxiliary infrastructure. Besides participation of parties themselves, the Asian Development Bank, Japanese credit organizations are interested in funding the project.
To implement the project it is necessary build a segment between Kars and Akhalkalaki of 98km length, 68 out of which pass through Turkey’s territory and the rest 30 – through Georgia. Besides, major repairs are necessary at the available railway segment from Akhalkalaki to Marabda of 180km. It is also necessary to build a new terminal in Georgia, which will provide an opportunity to receive foreign carriages, as Georgian railing is narrow and do not meet European standards. According to estimates of specialists, 2-3 million tons of cargo is expected to be transported during the first year of implementation of the project, then the figure may run up to 5-8 million tons a year, reported the Echo. Armenia is against building Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway, considering the project economically inexpedient, as its building is opposed to the already existing Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi-Baku railway.
