Trains run on reconstructed part of North-South corridor

The Sumqayit-Yalama railway connects the region of Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, with the country’s northern border with Russia. According to the Azerbaijan Railways, it is the first 23 kilometres of the line that have been inaugurated with a train. Apart from the North-South transport corridor, the railway line is essential for the connectivity of the Abheron peninsula where Sumqayit is situated.

Reconstruction works

The Sumgayit-Yalama railway reconstruction project is a joint project between the Government of Azerbaijan, the Asian Development Bank, and the French Development Agency. Reconstruction work began on February 18, 2020, as part of measures taken to implement the North-South international transport corridor. Design, construction and work supervision are carried out by joint ventures from Turkey, Kazakhstan and Germany.

The works included the demolition of 87 kilometres of tracks, excavation of sub-ballast and ballast material and laying of new sub-ballast material. So far, the first 70,5 kilometres of the line have acquired the first layer of ballast material, while the first 65 kilometres already have all ballast layers and new tracks. In addition to these, works included the construction of 37 bridges, 81 circular water pipes and seven animal crossings.