Azerbaijan Railways has applied method unique in CIS area

How do you assess activities of the Azerbaijan Railways in 2009?

Economic reforms, the foundations of which were laid by the national leader Heydar Aliyev and successfully continued by President Ilham Aliyev, have enabled the country to achieve great successes have led to rapid economic development.

This year the Azerbaijan Railways worked out a method of an official inspection and registration of passenger trains moving on Azerbaijan - Russia route together with the State Border Service and State Customs Committee.

This method simplified border-crossing conditions. It's no secret that hourly checks carried out in passenger trains had caused discontent among passengers, especially during summer. This kind of discontent has been eliminated as soon as the new method was applied. This method applied by the Azerbaijan Railways is unique among the former Soviet Union countries.

Are prices on tickets for domestic and international trips expected to increase next year?

Compared to transport means, cost of rail travel is cheaper. However, prices in the country are determined by the Tariff Board.

Does the Azerbaijan Railways plan to buy new cars in 2010?

As you know, on July 20, 2009, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to establish  Azerbaijan Railways Closed Joint-Stock Company to conform rail transportation system to international standards.

This document will help improve new organizational and legal framework of the railway in Azerbaijan, current railway infrastructure and rail vehicles.

The draft of State Program for Development of the Closed Joint-Stock Company Azerbaijan Railways for 2009-2013 has already been developed. The program addresses all issues related to rapid development of rail transport in Azerbaijan. For example, updating locomotive and car fleet, overhaul of communications and electrical supply bodies and modernization of facilities. When the document is legally confirmed, all these works will be even more accelerated.

Apart from this, negotiations with international financial institutions to reconstruct railway transport has entered a new phase. Recently, Azerbaijan signed loan agreement worth $450 million with the World Bank. These funds will help purchase new cars, renew signaling systems, telecommunications and electrical supply and apply financial and accounting system.

S. Mammadov