Rail transport in Azerbaijan

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Baku Railway Station

The rail traffic in Azerbaijan is by the state railway company Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları performed (ADY).

history

Baku freight yard, 2019

The first railway line in time for the Russian Empire belonging to Azerbaijan was in 1880 in the suburban area of Baku opened, she led over Sabunçu after Suraxany . The track width corresponded to the Russian broad gauge with 1524 mm . In 1883 the first long-distance route was opened, it ran from Baku to Tbilisi in Georgia . In 1900 a connection was opened from Baku via Balajari to Derbent and Petrowsk ( Makhachkala ) in Dagestan . With a connection to the railway network in the Armenian part of Russia in Uluchanlu (today Massis ) and without a direct connection to the Azerbaijani railway network, the line to Culfa via Şərur was put into operation in 1908 . The expansion of the Azerbaijani railway network was thus completed for the time being.

Due to the availability of electricity from hydropower , the electrification of the railway lines began unusually early . The Baku – Sabunçu line, electrified in 1926 with 1200 volts direct current , was the first electrically operated railway line in the Soviet Union . Later electrifications were made with 3000 volts direct current.

The line Ələt – Əli Bayramlı (today Şirvan ) opened in 1924 was extended in 1936 to Mincivan and in 1941 via Armenian territory ( Meghri ) to Culfa. In 1941 the route to Astara was opened with a subsequent border crossing to Iran. In 1944 Stepanakert (Xankəndi) was attached.

Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, rail traffic in Azerbaijan was carried out by the Transcaucasian Railway under the supervision of the Soviet Ministry of Transport. This had three departments in Baku, Gəncə and Naxçıvan . With the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991, the state railway company Azərbaycan Dövlət Dəmir Yolu was formed, which was converted into Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları in 2009 .

Outline map of the Azerbaijani railway network
Azerbaijani Railway Headquarters in Baku

Rail operations

The route network of Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları has a total length of 2918 km, of which 800 km are double-track and 1278 km are electrified with 3 kV DC voltage . The tracks are laid in Russian broad gauge (1,520 mm). The transport of oil from Baku to the Georgian ports of Batumi and Poti on the Black Sea dominates freight traffic . Due to the conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh , rail operations in the Armenian-occupied territories ( Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ) and cross-border traffic to Armenia have been suspended. This means that there is no continuous rail traffic to the Nakhichevan exclave . The railway traffic there is an island operation , which is carried out by Naxçivan Dəmir Yolları , a subsidiary of Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları . International travel is to the Russian Railways and Georgian Railways .

A railway infrastructure in Iran only exists from Nakhchivan (border crossing: Culfa / Dscholfa ), but is currently not used. It is planned to put it back into operation. A route that is to cross the border into Iran near Astara (Azerbaijan) is under construction.

In January 2007, it was decided to build the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway line , which will connect Azerbaijan to the European railway network, bypassing Russia and Armenia. After completion, Azerbaijan will receive a rail connection to Turkey via Georgia without touching Armenia. A direct rail connection from Naxçıvan via Iğdır to Kars in Turkey was also contractually agreed between the latter and Azerbaijan in 2014.

literature

  • E. Yes. Kraskowski (ed.): Istoria Schelesnodoroschnogo Transporta Rossii . Tom 1: 1836-1917. AO "Iwan Fedorow", S.-Peterburg 1994, ISBN 5-85952-005-0 .
  • NE Aksonenko (ed.): Istoria Schelesnodoroschnogo Transporta Rossii i Sowetskogo Sojusa . Tom 2: 1917-19457. AO "Iwan Fedorow", S.-Peterburg 1997, ISBN 5-85952-005-0 .
  • Martin Häfliger: Railway in Azerbaijan . In: Fern-Express . III / 2008, ISSN  0933-7598 , pp. 36-40.
  • Martin Häfliger: Railways in the Caucasus . In: LOK Report . 2/2008, pp. 4-9 and 3/2008 pp. 4-9

Web links

Commons : Rail Transport in Azerbaijan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b CIA - The World Factbook Azerbaijan
  2. a b hjs: Culfa – Jolfa line . In: IBSE telegram 307 (6/2016), p. 10.