Baku-Tbilisi-Kars train completes first trip
MERSİN - Anadolu Agency
A train service connecting Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia completed its first official trip on Nov. 4.
Departing from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, the train arrived at its final stop in Turkey’s southern port city of Mersin.
Veysi Kurt, head of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Transportation Inc. told reporters in Mersin that the train covered 4,200 kilometers (2,609 miles) in total from Kazakhstan to Mersin, carrying 600 tons of wheat.
It made its first stop in Turkey on Nov. 3 in the northeastern province of Kars and covered 1,258 kilometers (781.68 miles) in 30 hours to reach Mersin.
The 826-kilometer (513-mile) Baku-Tiblisi-Kars railway project was launched in 2007 and construction began in 2008.
On Oct. 30, the train began its first official trip after an inauguration ceremony in Baku, attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
