Azerbaijan and Georgia Sign BTK Railway Agreements to Boost Capacity

The railway authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia signed two agreements on January 29 to facilitate the full commercial launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, a critical infrastructure link in the Middle Corridor trade route connecting Central Asia to Europe through the South Caucasus.

The agreements address operational coordination, tariff harmonization, and technical standards that will enable the BTK line to handle significantly higher freight volumes. The railway, which has been operating at partial capacity since its inauguration in 2017, is being upgraded to handle up to 5 million tons of cargo per year, with long-term plans to expand capacity further as Middle Corridor traffic grows.

The BTK railway is the only direct rail link between the Caspian and Mediterranean basins that does not transit Russian or Iranian territory, making it strategically important for European supply chain diversification. The line connects Baku, Azerbaijan's capital and Caspian port city, with Kars in eastern Turkey, passing through Tbilisi, Georgia's capital.

The operational bottlenecks that have constrained the railway's throughput include differing gauge standards between the Soviet-era broad-gauge network in Azerbaijan and Georgia and the standard-gauge Turkish system, requiring cargo transfers at the Akhalkalaki station near the Georgian-Turkish border. The new agreements include provisions for streamlining these transfer operations and investing in intermodal handling equipment.

Azerbaijan's Transport and Communications Holding, which oversees the country's integrated logistics infrastructure, has been working with Georgian counterparts to create a seamless cross-border freight corridor. The holding company is positioning itself as a coordinator of rail, maritime, and port operations across the Middle Corridor's Caspian and South Caucasus segments, as described by Aze.Media.

The BTK expansion is part of a broader regional infrastructure push that includes growing Caspian port capacity in both Baku and Aktau, Kazakhstan, and the development of Georgia's Anaklia deep-sea port on the Black Sea coast. Together, these investments aim to transform the South Caucasus into a competitive Eurasian freight corridor capable of handling the projected 10 percent annual growth in Middle Corridor volumes, according to projections from the Organization of Turkic States.

Further Reading

Middle Corridor Freight Volumes on Track for 10% Growth in 2026

Aliyev Visits Georgia to Strengthen Trilateral Economic Corridor