Last week, Sabunchu-Pirshaghi line of Baku Circular Railway of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC was inaugurated after the renovation works with the participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The commissioning of the line was a significant step in terms of the improvement of the transport infrastructure between Baku and adjacent villages and settlements. This line will provide the comfortable and safe movement of settlement residents in the direction of the city and back. There are a total of 17 stations and stops on the Absheron Circular Railway line.

The overall length of Baku-Sabunchu-Pirshaghi-Sumgayit-Khirdalan-Bilajari-Baku Circular Railway line is 191.6 kilometers. Within the framework of the renovation works, Zabrat-1, Mammadli stops, Pirshaghi and Zabrat-2 stations have been renovated.

Overall, the consistent works are carried out to diversify and modernize the road-transport, as well as the railway infrastructure in our country.  

The formation of this infrastructure at the highest level serves the solution of the two significant priorities.

Firstly, the railway transport creates opportunities for preventing traffic jams and ensures the comfortable and safe movement of passengers.

Secondly, these projects contribute to the improvement of the ecological state and reduction of the volume of gas emissions.

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Today, Azerbaijan is turning into a transport hub; the passage of transport corridors of the historical Silk Road through Azerbaijan brings economic dividends to our country and strengthens its political stance. Azerbaijan serves as an important transit country between the east and the west, as well as the north and the south, and realizes this potential for the sake of its national interests.

Azerbaijan opens its transport and transit possibilities on an international scale, at the same time, makes large investments in order to increase its competitiveness in this direction.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway and the new Baku International Sea Trade Port projects are obvious examples in this regard. Experts assess Baku-Tbilisi-Kars as the formation of the global transport corridor.

Azerbaijan’s functionality and significance as the transport corridor between the east and the west and the north and the south increase. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars makes the access of Central Asian countries to Europe and world markets easier. The attraction of cargo of European and Asian countries to this railway will increase the volume of multimodal transportations in two directions.

So far, approximately 300, 000 tons of cargo have been transported via Baku-Tbilisi-Kars which has been operating since October 30th, 2017. The North-South transport corridor increases its significance in the background of rising international cargo transportation. It is no coincidence that the volume of the cargo transported through this corridor grew by 8 times in 2018, and by 70 percent in the 9 months of this year.  

In the 9 months of the current year, 24, 305 containers have been transported via Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC. It is 43.5 percent more compared to the relevant period of last year.

It is important to especially note the number of the containers coming from China in this increase. Thus, the number of containers from China has increased and made 2, 610 compared to the relevant period of last year.

While receiving chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov, President Ilham Aliyev clearly commented on Azerbaijan’s role in the international corridor and its importance for Azerbaijan: "Today, Azerbaijan renders its services as a reliable transit country. According to the general opinion, it is also reflected in the reports of international organizations – Azerbaijan has become a very reliable and important transit country. I have numerously said that to develop its transit potential, every country needs good relations with neighboring countries, and today, this is the reality. Throughout the past 1-2 months, I have held meetings with the heads of 4 neighboring countries –the Russian President, the Turkish President, the Iranian President and the Georgian Prime Minister. Special attention was also paid to the cooperation in the field of transport at these meetings. In one word, our transit potential will serve the development of the non-oil sector in the future. Currently, the role of the transport sector is growing in the direction of the increase of the share of the non-oil sector in the GDP. Now, we broadly use the capabilities of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway; last year, about 300, 000 tons of cargo were transported. An important issue is that we are not satisfied only with the cargo coming from Asian countries; at the same time, we actively cooperate with Europe, and the usage of this road by some European countries is already the reality. We have already started accepting containers from China. China-Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan-Europe corridor operates. At the same time, cargo is transported in the direction of Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Europe. We could connect Lapis-Lazuli railway with Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. It also creates big opportunities. Wide exchange of opinions was made on cargo transportations via railways at the meetings I have held with the presidents of the Central Asian Republics. Currently, we are discussing the usage opportunities of our corridor by Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and I am confident that success will be achieved in this regard."

Several details attract special attention in the speech of the head of state:

Firstly, Azerbaijan’s political reputation – the fact that it is a reliable partner, naturally, increases the number of countries interested in the cooperation with it on various projects.

Secondly, Azerbaijan’s transit potential impacts the development of the non-oil sector.

Thirdly, Azerbaijan accepts cargo not only from Asia, but also it serves as the transit country for cargo transportations from Europe. At the same time, Azerbaijan increases its importance as the significant hub of transport corridors from the north to the south.

Fourthly, negotiations and works are continued for the expansion of the existing hub.

The measures taken for the formation of the transport infrastructure in our country are also reflected in the reports of the international rating agencies.

According to the latest report of the Davos World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan is in the 12th place on the efficiency of the railways and in the 34th place on the quality of the railways.

Vusal Mammadov

Analytical Group