BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad's capacity can be expanded to five million tons by the end of April 2024, the chairman of Azerbaijani Railways, Rovshan Rustamov says on social media, TurkicWorld reports.
"The BTK's development with additional capacity is scheduled to be completed by April 2024. These initiatives not only demonstrate our commitment to fostering global trade but also improve Azerbaijan's role as a major link in the international transportation chain," Rustamov emphasized.
He stated that up to 95 percent of the work required for the road's full renovation has already been done, despite difficulties such as work at an altitude of 2,400 meters above sea level on a specific portion and temperatures as low as minus 30 in winter.
"The project will not only allow for the transportation of up to 5 million tons of goods per year, but will also boost cooperation between AR and the railway administrations of Georgia and Turkey to improve the efficiency of mutual activities," the head of AR noted in social networks.
Meanwhile, between 2018 and 2023, BTK could only move 1–1.5 million tons of cargo each year, and five phases of work were carried out on the territory of the three republics to improve capacity.
