Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway

The railway Kars - Akhalkalaki -Tbilisi- Baku, shortly katb or BTK (Baku -Tbilisi- Kars ) is a projected railway connection, which is to run from the Turkish city of Kars on the Georgian city of Akhalkalaki and Tbilisi in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. But missing a 105 -kilometer section between Kars and Akhalkalaki, which is under construction. After completion, Azerbaijan and Georgia get a direct rail connection to Europe without having to go through Russia or Armenia.

Building project

Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey decided after 15 years of preliminary construction of the missing link between Kars and Akhalkalaki piece and the expansion of the rest of the track on January 13, 2007 in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The realization of the railway line began on 21 October 2007 with the laying of the cornerstone in Georgia. On the Georgian side, 29 km track must be laid to establish the missing link from Akhalkalaki to the Turkish border, and from there to Tbilisi to 192 km route to be overhauled. The construction work in Georgia were interrupted by the Caucasus war in August 2008.

On the Turkish side, 76 kilometers of track, including a 2.4 -kilometer-long tunnel under the Turkish- Georgian border to re- build. In September 2004, this decline were offered by 14 construction companies, but only on 24 July 2008, the foundation stone for the Turkish leg was placed. End of 2011, 35 percent of this route and border tunnels were completed. For the remaining systems there is a detailed planning. The lane-change station to be built in Georgia, near the town of Akhalkalaki.

After the commissioning planned for the end of 2013 the total volume of goods a distance of 6.5 million tonnes and a passenger one million is expected. By 2030, the transport capacity is to be increased to 17 million tonnes per year.

Financing

The Turkish section is estimated at 300 million U.S. dollars. Azerbaijan will borrow a sum of 200 million U.S. dollars at an interest rate of one percent with a maturity of 25 years, to enable the cash-strapped Georgia the necessary new and upgrading of the railway Georgia. This shows a strong interest in Azerbaijan at the track. The total investment in the region Akhalkalaki would amount to 300 million U.S. dollars, the total cost of the project is estimated at 600 million U.S. dollars. For the Turkish section of the track financing has been secured.

Policy

The rail link is after the Baku -Tbilisi -Ceyhan oil pipeline and the unfinished South Caucasus gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to the Turkish Erzurum, the third joint project of the three states. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which could be connected via train ferries across the Caspian Sea to the new route, are also interested in participating in the project. By railway Georgia and Azerbaijan get a connection to the European rail network, bypassing Russia and Armenia.

Armenia criticized the project because the existing, running through Armenian territory and currently untapped due to the closed Turkish- Armenian border railway Kars - Gyumri -Tbilisi is not used, the country will continue to remain bypassed and isolated. The existing route is also shorter than the now planned new building and could be reactivated for a fraction of the cost.

For this reason, refuse both the U.S. and the EU co-financing, although the route is part of the Transport Corridor Transport Corridor Europe- Caucasus -Asia.

In Georgia there are critical voices against the railway project: Salome Zurabishvili, former Georgian Foreign Minister, expressed fears that the new route will shift the flow of goods away from the economically important Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi. These concerns but were put on hold after repeated Russian boycott of the Georgian economy since 2006.

The cautious approach of Turkey in the wake of the Caucasus conflict in 2008, in the visit of Turkish President Abdullah Gul manifested itself in Yerevan during a qualifying match for the FIFA World Cup 2010 between Armenia and Turkey on September 6, 2008 had, observers suspect, the project could be abandoned. Much cheaper - - historic route Kars - Gyumri -Tbilisi are put into working order again Instead, the could.