AZERBAIJAN: National railway ADY has announced a plan to modernise the 167 km route between Sumqayit, 30 km north of Baku, and Yalama on the Russian border. Work is to get underway this year.
The enhancement project would support the wider scheme to develop a north–south freight corridor linking Russia and northern Europe with the Gulf.
Plans include modernising the signalling and electrification equipment, raising the line speed to 140 km/h, modernising or replacing 157 bridges and reducing the number of stations from 21 to 16 or 14.
The cost is put at US$179m, with US$29m to come from the state budget and the rest of the cost to be financed with a loan from the Asian Development Bank.
