Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway

The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, or Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway, is a regional rail link project to directly connect Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The project is due to be completed by 2010cite journal| journal=Railway Gazette International| month=February| year=2007| url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2007/02/7020/news_in_brief-8.html| title=News| accessdate=2007-09-02 ] .

Route

In total km to mi|98 of new line will be built between Kars and Akhalkalaki, with km to mi|68 within Turkey and km to mi|30 in Georgia. The existing line from Akhalkalaki on to Tbilisi and Baku will be modernized.

The new railway link is intended to provide an alternative route to the existing Kars Gyumri Akhalkalaki railway line whch has been out of use since 1993, when Turkey closed its border with Armenia to support Azerbaijan in its conflict with Armenia following the Nagorno-Karabakh War. [cite news| date=June 22 2006| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/5102564.stm| title=Fears of Turkey's 'invisible' Armenians| publisher=BBC News| ] . A multi-lateral accord to build the link was signed by the three countries in January 2005.cite journal| journal=Railway Gazette International| month=March| year=2007| url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2005/03/1687/pointers-24.html| title=Pointers| accessdate=2007-09-02 ] , but the European Union and the United States have said they will not assist in promoting or developing the line because it is designed to bypass Armenia.

For the construction of the railroad on Georgian territory, Azerbaijan is providing a US$220 million loan, repayable in 25 years, with an annual interest rate of only 1% [ [http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371901 Vladimir Socor. "Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railroad: Azerbaijan as locomotive of regional projects", "Eurasia Daily Monitor", Jamestown Foundation, February 9, 2007] ] . A concessional loan agreement for this financing has already been signed between a Georgian state-owned company Marabda-Karsi Railroad LLC and Azerbaijan [ [http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2007/cr07299.pdf International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Report No. 07/299 - Georgia, August 2007] ] . As of September 2007, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan has allocated the first US$50 million installment of this loan [cite news | publisher=Azeri-Press Agency (APA)| date=2007-09-12 | url=http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=34877 | title=The cornerstone-laying ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway to be held in October] .

On November 21, 2007, the presidents of Azerbaijan - Ilham Aliyev, Georgia - Mikheil Saakashvili, and Turkey - Abdullah Gul inaugurated the construction of the railroad at a groundbreaking ceremony in the village of Marabda in southern Georgia [cite news | publisher=Prime-News| date=2007-11-21 | url=http://eng.primenewsonline.com/news/121/ARTICLE/17015/2007-11-21.html | title=Presidents Inaugurated Construction Of "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" Railway | accessdate=2007-12-30] , and the first rails are expected to be laid by March or April 2008 [cite news | publisher=Railway Gazette International| date=2007-11-22 | url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2007/11/7941/three_presidents_launch_turkey_georgia_rail_link.html| title=Three presidents launch Turkey - Georgia rail link | accessdate=2007-11-24 | ] .

Since Turkey uses standard gauge and Georgia uses Russian gauge the line will either contain a break-of-gauge, may be dual gauge, or only be build in one gauge.

References