Azerbaijan gives Georgia loan for Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction

Azerbaijan and Georgia have signed a deal in Baku. Azerbaijan will provide Georgia with a loan worth $575 million for construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the connector of the Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish railways, 1news.az reports.

The loan was provided for 25 years with a rate of 5%. Regardless of the rate payments, Georgia will pay commission fees worth 0.5%, which must not exceed 20,000 Georgian laris.
The loan will finance construction and rehabilitation of the Tetritskaro-Akhalkalaki railway line, construction of the Akhalkalaki train station and construction of other railway infrastructure facilities.
Kartsakhi-Marabda issued the credit, it is not a state debt. The loan will be paid off using income from realization of the railway project.
The first loan was worth $200 million, provided for 25 years at a rate of 1%.
Adjustments in the Azerbaijani-Georgian deal on financing, designing, construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of the
Marabda-Kratsakhi (Turkish border) line increased the credit to $775 million.
The Azerbaijani State Oil Fund finances construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. The project includes construction of a new 1059-kilometer line, 76 km of which will run through Turkey, 29 km – through Georgia.
Georgia will reconstruct the Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway section. Akhalkalaki will have a switch from Georgian to European gauge.
Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mamedov said that they plan to finish construction in late 2012. The corridor will be launched in early 2013.
The railway line will have a capacity of 17 million tons of cargo. The line will transport 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo at the first stage.

source: vestnikkavkaza

Turkish, Italian Railways sign deal

The parties also agreed to act together in feasibility works, project designs, management and maintenance.

An agreement was signed between Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and the Italian Railways (FS).
The agreement signed by TCDD Director-General Suleyman Karaman and FS director-General Mauro Moretti in Rome envisages cooperation in high speed train, safety, signalization, training and infrastructure.
The parties also agreed to act together in feasibility works, project designs, management and maintenance.
TCDD and FS signed another agreement in December 11, 2009.

source: World Bulletin

Turks, Chinese to build high-speed train lines across Turkey

Turkish and Chinese companies will jointly construct high-speed train lines in Turkey, Turkish State Railways, or TCDD, Director General Süleyman Karaman said Friday.

Under an agreement signed between China and Turkey last week, China will grant loans for the construction of a Silk Road Railway of high-speed train lines between Edirne and Kars.

"We are planning to construct lines for high-speed trains between Ankara-Izmir, Ankara-Sivas, Sivas-Erzincan, Erzincan-Trabzon, Sivas-Malatya, Elazig-Diyarbakir, Eskisehir-Antalya and Konya-Antalya," Karaman told journalists.

"We need $45 billion for Turkey's target to construct 6,000 kilometers of high-speed tracks and 4,000 kilometers of conventional railroad tracks by 2023. Within the scope of the agreement signed with China, this country will finance $28 billion of this target," Karaman said.

Karaman said China was planning to construct 2,000 kilometers of railroad tracks both in and outside the country, noting that China was carrying out many projects in Libya, Algeria and the United States with this goal.

Karaman said China was working to create a market in European countries and to this end considered Turkey an area to promote itself.

source: Hurriyetdailynews