AZERBAIJAN RAILWAY EXPECTS 7.1% INCREASE IN CARGO TRANSPORT VOLUME

Baku, 13 0ctober, (AzerTAj)“Azerbaijan State Railway (ASR) expects that the volume of cargo transport by the end of this will increase 7.1% year-on-year, ASR Chief Engineer Gurban Nazirov told journalists on Monday. “A total volume of cargo and passenger transportations throughout 2008 is estimated at 30 million tons and 5 million people respectively,” he said.

Nazirov announced that construction activities on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport
corridor project have already begun. “Moreover, realization of the newly prepared
State Program of Development of the Azerbaijan State Railway for 2009-2012 worth AZN
2 billion will make it possible to renew the whole railway infrastructure,” he said
adding South Korea’s national railroad is showing interest in the Azerbaijan railway
reconstruction project. “We have recently met its representatives. They are
interested in joining the project, and are ready to spend $300 million for this
purpose,” Nazirov said.
Total extension of the Azerbaijan Railroad is 2,930 kilometers.