(MENAFN- AzerNews) By Ayya Lmahamad
Turkey increased its cargo transportation via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway transport corridor amid coronavirus pandemic, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu reported on May 13.
According to the minister, against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for rail freight transportation as the safest mode of transportation has increased significantly. The Minister noted that Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway plays an important role in international cargo transportation, especially in the Central Asian region.
"Upon President Recep Erdogan's order it was decided to expand the potential of BTK. The new system of container transportations near the border with Georgia will increase the volume of cargo transportation by 3.5 thousand tons," Karaismailoglu said.
The Minister reminded that the tracks of the railways of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia are different from those of Turkey and European countries, which makes it necessary to change the wheel sets.
"The new system of repositioning of railcars on the border with Georgia helps perform these operations much faster," he said.
The minister announced that the first train to use this transfer system is now on the way, carrying mining, agricultural goods and ferrosilicon raw material from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to western Turkey's Denizli and southern Mersin.
The minister said that so far 240 thousand tons of cargoes in 5.25 thousand containers have been exported from Turkey, 5.3 thousand containers with 280 thousand tons of imported products have been delivered to the country, as well as cargoes that are in transit to Europe.
The BTK railway line was put into operation on October 30, 2017. This project has a significant role in trade and connects not only the three countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey), but also the U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and China. The 826-kilometer railway line, extending from Baku to Kars, complements a major part of the Middle Corridor with the Caspian Pass line.
As of today Baku-Tbilisi-Kars cargo turnover is 6 million tons, passenger turnover is 1 million people.
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