Azerbaijan Railways is today one of the sectors in the country, the development of which is moving forward by leaps and bounds. The history of the development of railway communication is very interesting, and plans for the future are global.
History
After the USSR collapsed, and Azerbaijan became an independent country, the Azerbaijan Railways CJSC was created. But in fact, the development of railway communication began much earlier. In 1878, the first highway was commissioned. The main task that she had to solve was the transportation of oil. The road was built at the expense of the state treasury and belonged to Azerbaijan. Three years later, it was combined with the Georgian one and received the name “Transcaucasian Railway”. Various historical events contributed to the fact that until 1967 it either became an independent organization, or was reunited with the Georgian one.
Since the first section of the track was laid in Azerbaijan, a huge number of people have been working in the country's railway industry. Therefore, on October 13, each representative of this profession celebrates the Day of Workers of the Azerbaijan Railway.
One of the primary tasks of the organization today is to provide quality service. To implement this business line, the company operates electric locomotives, electric trains, shunting and mainline diesel locomotives.
Where can I go?
As for the routes of the Azerbaijan Railways, they can be divided into internal and external.
Domestic routes are carried out domestically and currently include 7 destinations:
- Baku - Agstafa through Gaza;
- Baku - Sumgait;
- Baku - Hajikabul through Shirvan;
- Baku - Yalama;
- Baku - Kesik through Beyuk;
- Baku - Horadiz through Astara;
- Baku - Balaken through Kocharli.
All flights, except for Baku - Sumgait and Baku - Hajikabul depart daily in both directions. Electric trains on the route Baku - Sumgait depart several times a day. Directions on the Baku-Hajikabul flight are carried out daily, except Saturday.
External routes include flights outside the country in 4 directions:
- Baku - Moscow;
- Baku - Rostov;
- Baku - Kiev;
- Baku - Tbilisi.
Flights on the routes Baku - Moscow and Baku - Kiev are carried out weekly. The Baku-Rostov flight needs to be specified in advance, since the train departure schedule is floating. Trains from Baku to Tbilisi depart daily.
There is a transit ticket office at the Baku station through which you can purchase tickets for trains running through the territory of Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Future projects
The leadership of the Azerbaijan Railways is not going to be limited to the indicated routes. Currently, the organization is preparing several large-scale projects that will allow passengers to be transported to other countries and cities.
All these projects, according to the company, should be implemented before 2022:
- Kars - Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic - Iran through Igdir. This project was announced in 2017. From Azerbaijan, it is planned to reconstruct a road 10 km long from Sadarak to the border with Iran and to build an additional section 7 km long. This route will connect Turkey and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
- The North-South project, which is agreed between Russia, India and Iran. As a result, an international corridor will be created, the western branch of which will pass through Azerbaijan. The country, in turn, will be connected to Iran through a border bridge. This branch will be called western.
Ready projects
According to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, a railway link will be formed from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia, and from Turkey to Europe. All expenses were divided between countries in equal parts. Work on the implementation of the project began in 2007, and ended 10 years later. All three countries agreed that each of them carries out a certain front of work. From Azerbaijan, the road from Marneuli to Akhalkalaki was reconstructed. Work from Georgia began from the indicated section to the border with Turkey. On the Turkish side, the work has not been fully completed - it is planned to establish communication with European countries through this path. The task will be achieved by building a tunnel under the Bosphorus.
