Container freight transportation via BTK up by 63pct

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The number of containers transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway increased by 63 percent during the first seven months of this year, ADY Container has reported.

During the reported period, a total of 13,610 TEUs were transported via BTK to the destination stations compared to 8,348 TEUs transported during the corresponding period of 2020.

The company also reported positive dynamics in the indicators for July 2021. Thus, the number of containers transported by BTK increased by 109 percent year-on-year in July 2021.

It was noted that 92 percent of the 13,610 TEUs transported was transit freight - via Azerbaijan in the China-Turkey and Central Asia-Turkey routes and vice versa.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is of exceptional importance for turning Azerbaijan into a regional transport corridor. The agreement on the construction of the railway, which was put into operation in 2017, was signed during the meeting in Tbilisi by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in 2007.

The 828-kilometer Baku Tbilisi Kars railway stretches from the Azerbaijani coast of the Caspian Sea to the Georgian capital, and from there to Turkey, connecting the country’s extensive railway system and thus gaining access to European borders.

As of today, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars’ cargo turnover is 6 million tons while passenger turnover is 1 million people. In the future, it may be increased to 3 million passengers and 20 million tons of cargo.

It should be noted that the twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports. It is based on the volume of a 20-foot long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box that can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains, and trucks.