Central Asia, Europe linked by Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway
The long awaited Baku-TbilisiKars railway designed to become a new transport corridor for goods carried between Asia and Europe, was launched in Baku on October 31.
The direct rail link connecting neighboring Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, will provide fast and reliable land connection between the booming markets of East Asia and the booming markets of Europe.
The new BTK rail line is emerging to become the central nervous system of the new Silk Road, allowing goods to be transported by rail from one side of Eurasia to the other in just 15 days with no need to pass through Russia or Iran.
The first train departed from the Azerbaijani port of Alat after its inauguration by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
In order not to miss such an historic event, the leaders and highranking officials of a number of countries, including Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, that will somehow be involved in the transportation along this corridor, attended the solemn ceremony.
President Ilham Aliyev addressing the opening ceremony said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a historic project, stressing that the railway is the shortest and safest route connecting Europe to Asia.
“Through this route, it is expected to transport 5 million tons at the first stage, 17 million tons at the next stage, and then larger volumes of cargo,” Ilham Aliyev said. “In short, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is becoming an important part of Eurasia's transport map.”
The president noted that trade turnover and mutual investments between the countries along the railway will increase, cooperation between the countries using the railroad will deepen, and the railroad will serve stability and security.
President Aliyev expressed confidence that with the use of the BTK railway, the development of tourism will gain a large scale and the number of tourists will increase.
“Naturally, the successful operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will enhance the geopolitical significance of our countries and create additional opportunities for us. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be very important for the development of business, mutually beneficial cooperation," he noted.
The head of state emphasized that the construction of this railway is a result of friendship and brotherhood between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
“The three states successfully cooperate in all spheres, support each other. Our countries, peoples implement important projects for the world. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is a project that has a rightful place among those projects,” added President Aliyev.
President Aliyev reminded that the three countries have also connected their electricity lines and the cooperation in this sphere is successfully developing today.
“Naturally, the Southern Gas Corridor, which is a global project and the biggest infrastructure project in Europe, is created thanks to the joint activities of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, as well as other countries. The implementation of this project is continuing successfully. As it is known, the Southern Gas Corridor consists of four parts. Ninety-eight percent of the work has been completed on Shah Deniz 2. The South Caucasus Pipeline is a gas pipeline connecting Azerbaijan and Georgia. The level of implementation is 99 percent,” noted the head of state.
In other words, the Baku-TbilisiKars railway has been established on the basis of the previously implemented projects, noted Ilham Aliyev.
“Naturally, if we had not implemented those grandiose, large-scale projects in the oil and gas sector in the previous period, today we could only talk about Baku-Tbilisi-Kars,” said the president.
The President further stressed that some foreign circles did not believe in the implementation of the BTK railway.
“They believed that this would not be possible and the technical facilities and financial resources necessary for that would not allow the project to be implemented. However, the three countries have shown and proved that this is possible,” said President Aliyev. “It is possible to do all the work when there is our strong will, mutual support, and confidence in each other. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a clear example of this. I am sure that Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, which make the greatest contribution to regional cooperation, will continue to support each other.”
The head of state noted that big projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway strengthen the three countries’ unity and friendship.
“Central Asia, Kazakhstan are showing great interest in this railway project. The participation of delegations, high-ranking officials from Central Asia and Kazakhstan in this ceremony clearly demonstrates this,” said President Aliyev. “We are confident that there will be additional opportunities for the transportation of goods. Traditional friendly relations of our countries with Central Asian countries will also be strengthened with the help of this railway.”
He said that the Baku-TbilisiKars railway is of great importance for Europe.
“Azerbaijan has already held relevant negotiations with several European countries. The countries of Europe also show great interest in the construction of this railway."
The head of state noted that at the same time, Azerbaijan is demonstrating its technical and financial capabilities to create infrastructure in other countries.
“In general, I can say that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the transportation sector, big investments have been put. From 2004 until today, 11,000 kilometers of highways have been built and six international airports have been commissioned in Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijan has a very big fleet of cargo aircraft. There are about 20 big cargo planes in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has the biggest naval fleet in the Caspian Sea,” said Ilham Aliyev.
“A fleet of 270 ships plays a special role in the organization of cargo transportation in the Caspian Sea. A big shipbuilding yard was built in Azerbaijan several years ago that manufactures all types of ships. The plant will carry out even more work in connection with the expected growth of cargo transportation in the Caspian Sea,” noted the president.
Of course, the International Sea Trade Port in Alat is an important part of Azerbaijan’s transport infrastructure, said President Aliyev.
The construction of the port is continuing successfully and the port is already operating, he added. “The first phase of the port is planned to be commissioned in the middle of the next year. After that, 15 million tons of cargo and 100,000 containers will annually pass through the port. As a result of completion of the second stage, the capacity of the Alat port will be 25 million tons of cargo and one million containers."
“In other words, investments put in the transportation sector in recent years have already led to the creation of a very strong infrastructure, which is of great importance both for our country, for the region and the world,” added the head of state.
The Azerbaijani president once again noted that the Baku-TbilisiKars is a historic and global project.
Speaking at the event, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the opening of the BTK is a significant project for the future of the region, noting that the railway will connect not only Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey but also Europe and Asia.
Erdogan noted that today the volume of cargoes going from China to Europe exceeds 240 million tons.
“If, at least, 10 percent of this volume is carried via the middle corridor passing through the territory of our countries, then 24 million tons of additional cargo will be transported,” he said.
Georgian Prime Minister Georgi Kvirikashvili, for his part, said that the railway is the best example of successful implementation of joint strategic projects.
It can be noted that today the foundation of the new Eurasian bridge is being laid, said Kvirikashvili adding that the BTK railway will connect not only economies but also the peoples of the participating countries and will serve their wellbeing.
The prime minister added that the Georgian side also wants to contribute to the implementation of the “One Belt-One Road” initiative.
“We want Georgia and the region to be fully integrated with the Trans-European transportation network and I am confident that the BTK will play a significant role in achieving this goal,” said the prime minister.
Making a speech at the event, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said that the BTK is an invaluable contribution to the revival of the Silk Road. Having noted that the BTK railway is an important element of the International North-South Transport Corridor project, Aripov added that Uzbekistan is interested in transporting cargo through the North-South corridor.
The corridor will make it possible to effectively use the economic and transit potential of the countries and will contribute to the prosperity of the entire region, Aripov said.
Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev also emphasized the great importance of the BTK for the full realization of transit, transport and logistics potential of the whole region.
The project forms optimal logistics and generates economic growth and trade in the region, according to Sagintayev.
“I am sure that the Baku-TbilisiKars railway will give a significant impetus to the development of regional trade. It will create additional potential for economic growth. It is equally important that the corridor will be a factor ensuring stable and secure development of the entire South Caucasus region,” he said.
The agreement on the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was signed in Tbilisi in 2007. In November of the same year, the railway line was laid in Georgia’s Marabda station. A groundbreaking ceremony of the Kars-Georgia border section was held in Kars in July 2008.
The 504-kilometer part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which has a length of 846 kilometers, passes through Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, 263 kilometers of the railway runs through Georgia, and 79 kilometers – through Turkey.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will facilitate the access of Central Asian countries – Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as Afghanistan to European and world markets. In the future, the attraction of European and Asian freight traffic to this railway will increase the volume of multimodal transportation in both directions.
It is envisaged that 3-5 million tons of cargo will be transported in the third year of operation, 6-8 million tons of cargo will be transported in the fifth year of operation, and then 3 million passengers and 17 million tons of cargo will be annually transported via the railway.
This shows that, along with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will also benefit from transit traffic. All this clearly demonstrates the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, its safety, reliability, speediness and timeliness. There will be a twofold decrease in time spent for freight traffic as compared to the existing ones, which will further increase the economic benefits of the project.
Another important aspect of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is Azerbaijan’s direct railway connection through Turkey and Georgia, using the opportunities provided by the project. This railway will have a strong impact on development of tourism in the region.
Thus, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is of global significance, connects two continents with steel rails and creates great social and economic benefits.
Most importantly, the commissioning of the railway is the greatest contribution to stability in the region, closeness of peoples and economic development. The basis of this contribution is the unshakable friendship and brotherhood of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.