FROM BEIJING TO LONDON ON ONE TRAIN

At the beginning of 2014, a large regional rail project - the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) line - is to be put into operation. It was designed to increase the transit potential of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia and contribute to the expansion of traffic between Europe and Asia, where the market of goods and services is developing at a fast pace. However, as it became known in the course of the 12th International Transport, Transit and Logistics Exhibition and the 3rd Caspian International Road Infrastructure and Public Transport Exhibition, held last week in Baku, the start of the project has been briefly delayed. Are the reasons for the delay objective and will they give pessimists a new reason to express doubts about the economic feasibility of the route?

Just a little bit...

The strategic importance of the new rail link is undeniable. But despite this, there have been different opinions and statements recently about the economic infeasibility of the project, delays in its implementation and the rise in price.

Meanwhile, according to the deputy head of CJSC Azerbaijan Railways, Qurban Nazirov, BTK will be fully commissioned by the end of 2014. "Currently, the work on the project is being carried out in accordance with the schedule and the construction work is expected to be completed fully by the end of 2013. During 2014, start-up work will be held and organizational and administrative issues will be addressed," Nazirov said. He explained the slight delays in the timing of the project by the need to address technical and administrative issues related to the construction of a tunnel on the Georgian-Turkish border.

Within the framework of BTK, it is planned to build a new 105 km railway line. In addition, a section of the Marabda-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway will be reconstructed in Georgia, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo a year. In Akhalkalaki it is planned to build a centre to transfer trains on the European track.

As expected, the peak capacity of the BTK corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo annually, and at the early stage, this figure will be at the level of 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $ 775 million for the construction of the Georgian section. The project is being financed by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, according to decrees issued by President Ilham Aliyev.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the position of Georgia in the implementation of this project. In particular, in December 2012 doubts about its economic benefits were expressed by Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. But just a few days later, he noted that the construction of BTK will not be suspended and the new Georgian government has no questions.

At a recent economic forum in Qabala, Georgia's Minister of Eco-nomy and Sustainable Develop-ment Giorgi Kvirikashvili also confirmed the priority of this route. "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is one of the most important railway projects for Georgia. Our government believes that the project must be continued. There were technical problems. There were problems with the coordinates of the project, which were clarified by the parliament of Georgia. Work is already under way to build the Akhalkalaki station. After a few days, work will continue to build a tunnel that will connect Turkey and Georgia. I want to emphasize that this project is a strategic project. No problems threaten the realization of this project," Kvirikashvili said.

Economically beneficial

As for the economic benefits of the BTK project, their presence, as mentioned above, is undeniable. It's no secret that our region has a great transit potential, which is far from being fully used, and it is necessary to launch new transport projects to develop it.

For example, the construction in Azerbaijan of a new international seaport in Alat (65 km from Baku), where a large logistics centre will be created with a handling capacity of up to 11.6 million tons of cargo a year, combined with the BTK opens up great opportunities for the development of the transit potential of the countries participating in the project and the growth of freight transportation between Europe and Asia. Currently, the activities of the Central Asian countries to develop the transport corridor from China to Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus have increased. And BTK is a catalyst of all these processes. Such countries as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are interested in the project. In particular, with the commissioning of BTK it will be possible to launch the Silk Wind project - an initiative within the framework of TRACECA, on which Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey signed a memorandum in November last year. The purpose of the project is the creation of a multimodal route from the east coast of the Caspian Sea to Europe (with the help of railway and sea transport) with a system of prior exchange of information between customs authorities and rail operators in countries participating in the project. The countries participating in the project are also planning to introduce a single tariff for the transportation of cargo.

In addition, the importance of the BTK project will increase with the commissioning of a tunnel under the Bosporus as part of the Marmaray project. The Marmara railway tunnel, which will connect the Asian side of Istanbul with European, will be tested on 1 August, and the full commissioning is planned for October of this year. The length of the railway will be 76.3 km, 13.6 km of which will be in the tunnel. The transportation capacity of the railway through the Bosporus in both directions will be 1.2 million passengers a day. The Ministry of Transport, Shipping and Communica-tions of Turkey previously said that this is the only project of its kind where passengers and cargo can be transported by one and the same tunnel.

Train to Naxcivan

As for Azerbaijan, apart from clear financial benefits from the exploitation of BTK and becoming an important transportation hub between Europe and Asia, the project will help solve issues of strategic importance for the country. In particular, it concerns the lack of a direct land link between the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic and the rest of Azerbaijan because of the aggressive policy of Armenia. At present, this problem is solved with the help of air travel and bus routes through Iran. Now, with BTK, it is also planned to lay a rail service between Naxcivan and Kars (Turkey).

The head of JSC Azerbaijan Railways, Arif Asgarov, said that the preparation of the feasibility study of the project has been completed and design work is currently under way. According Asgarov, it is necessary to carry out rehabilitation work on the railway in the territory of Azerbaijan and build a branch in Turkey. "The Azerbaijani side will carry out work on the rehabilitation of the railway on its own, but the question of how the construction of the railway sector will be organized in Turkey is still being considered," Asgarov said. When laying the Naxcivan-Kars railway, it is also planned to reconstruct the route from the border with Iran to Sadarak and to build a further 10 km of tracks. According to preliminary data, the Kars-Naxcivan railway project will require 1 billion manats.

In short, the timely implementation of BTK plays into the hands of the three participating countries, as it will significantly affect the growth of their state incomes and the development of related industries.