Akhalkalaki: An event marking the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line following its modernization will be held today at the Akhalkalaki railway and logistics complex in Georgia, APA reports. The event will be attended by officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Trkiye, as well as heads of railway and port administrations and representatives of logistics companies.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, on May 18, in Baku, in the presence of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze, Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev and Georgia's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili signed the Protocol of the 41st meeting of the Coordination Council. This protocol pertains to the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and construction of the Marabda-Turkish border (Kartsakhi) railway section within the framework of the new BTK railway line project.

The document confirmed the completion and final acceptance of the modernization works under the BTK railway project. In 2024, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) carried out modernization works on the 184-kilometer section of the BTK line passing through Georgia to increase the capacity of this key segment of the Middle Corridor.

The five-phase project encompassed 13 railway stations, 55 bridges, eight traction substations, and 320 buildings and engineering structures, including bridges, overpasses, and crossings. Within the framework of the project, a new 30.3-kilometer railway line was constructed, a wheelset-changing station was established, and rehabilitation and reconstruction works were carried out on 153.1 kilometers of the existing railway.

As a result of the works, the BTK railway's annual freight capacity increased from 1 million tons to 5 million tons, making it one of the more efficient overland routes connecting China and Central Asia with Europe.