When Will the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Become Fully Operational?
The Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway, which became operational on 30 October 2017 and is to complete a transport corridor linking Azerbaijan to Turkey and therefore Central Asia and China to Europe by rail, is not fully functional at present and it is unknown when it will become so.
Most of the railway construction works in Georgia were completed several years ago. Only works directly related to the commencement of the operation of the railway remain undone.
The Georgian section of the railway is being constructed by the state-run Marabda Kartsakhi Railway. The project envisages construction of 29.2 km railroads in Georgia as well as the rehabilitation of the existing 157 km of rails, the construction of new stations and the upgrading of other older infrastructure.
After the project is commissioned, the first-phase 5 million tons of cargo and the next 15 million tons of cargo are to be transported. This amount is much more than the whole amount of cargo transported from Georgia by rail last year.
The financial statements of Marabda Kartsakhi Railway 2018 read the company's expenses amounted to GEL 102 million ($35.54 mln) per year. Because the state-owned company is only carrying out engineering works and the railway has no operating income, the company closed last year with a loss of GEL 102 million.
The project is financed by the Azerbaijani side with a loan granted by the Republic of Azerbaijan. The total loan amounted to $775 million and was issued in two parts: the first, $200 million, with an annual interest rate of 1%, and the second, $575 million, with an annual interest rate of 5%. The principal amount of the loan and the interest accrued on it will commence upon completion of the project and should be repaid within 25 years. However, the agreement reads this period may be extended.
Davit Peradze, Head of Georgian Railway, says the Marabda Kartsakhi Railway is still operating in test mode.
“There were 19 block train trips from China in 2019, and by 2020 the number of trains coming from China will increase to 170,” he added.
Levan Kankava, General Director of the Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway project, also says that currently the railway is in test mode and the exact date of full commissioning is not known at this time.
“Works on the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway are underway and are in their final stage. Communication systems have been tested and the Georgian section fully complies with safety standards,” he said, adding that upon completion of construction works, a joint venture of the Azerbaijani Railway and the Georgian Railway will be established, which will provide for the exploitation of the new Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway includes 826 kilometers of track. In Georgia, 29 kilometers of new train tracks were laid from Akhalkalaki, west to the border of Turkey, and 76 kilometers of track were laid inside Turkey, from the border to the city of Kars.
Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was announced at the end of 2007. Initially, the completion date was 2010, but it was postponed many times. Following the first test run by a passenger train from Tbilisi to Akhalkalaki on 27 September 2017, the BTK was inaugurated in a ceremony hosted by the President of Azerbaijanm Ilham Aliyev, in Alyat on 30 October 2017.
The reasons for the postponement of full completion of the project stated by officials in Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, have varied, ranging from delays in funding, political changes and problems with a contractor in Turkey, to difficult geographic location and climate conditions. Even today, the full exploitation of the BTK railway depends on Georgia's neighboring countries.
By Tea Mariamidze
Image source: vestnikkavkaza.net