International Conference on Eurasian Economies
24-25 August 2021 – Istanbul, TURKEY and ONLINE
Paper properties
Paper ID : 2553
Status : Paper published
Language : Turkish
Topic : Regional Economics
Presenter: Asst. Prof. Dr. Hakan Emanet
Session : 2C Bölgesel Gelişmeler
The Present and Future of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway
Bakü Tiflis Kars Demiryolunun Bugünü ve Geleceği
- Asst. Prof. Dr. Hakan Emanet (Istanbul Beykent University, Türkiye)
Abstract
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, is a new line directly connecting Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan by rail, and it became operational in 2017. In fact, the BTK railway connects not only these three countries, but also Central Asia with the Caspian Sea passage in the east, and Europe via Turkey with the Marmaray project in the west. The line, which has an annual freight carrying capacity of 6.5 million tons, has carried approximately 400 thousand tons of freight in 2020. The BTK railway line is also an alternative to the One Belt One Road project between China and Europe. Considering this point, it is seen that the amount of freight transported is not at the intended level, despite the current capacity. In this study, BTK railway, which is likely to act as a lever for increasing the trade volume between the countries of the region, has been analyzed in terms of freight transportation. In the first part, the features of the BTK railway are explained. In the second part, the foreign trade structure of the countries in the region is presented. In the third part, the freight transported on the BTK railway are examined. In the last section, suggestions are presented to increase the current transport volume.
JEL codes: L92
Emanet, Hakan (2021). "The Present and Future of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway" in Proceedings of International Conference of Eurasian Economies 2021, pp.359-364, Istanbul, TURKEY and ONLINE.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36880/C13.02553
Session 2C: Bölgesel Gelişmeler
