New railway station to be constructed in Akhalkalaki as part of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

Building a unique railway station in Akhalkalaki will begin in two weeks as part of construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the minister of infrastructure and regional development of Georgia Ramaz Nikolaishvili said on Thursday during the review of construction work on the Georgian section of the railway.

He was accompanied by chairman of the supervisory board of the Azerbaijan Azerromservis Company Javad Gurbanov.

According to the Georgian minister, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway assumes strategic importance. Nikolaishvili reminded that this project was the winner among 100 projects in the competition, held this year in New York.

"The construction of the railway line Marabda-Kartsakhi is carried out intensively. The work involves more than 500 people, and this number will double with the construction of the station," said the minister.

In his turn, Gurbanov said that Europe is also looking forward the new railway. "This way will connect us to Europe via Turkey, and the implementation of this project is very important for the region," he said.
The total project cost is over $600 million.

For the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Azerbaijan has allocated $575 million loan to Georgia.

The capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons per year. Commissioning is expected late next year.