Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey launch new Asia-to-Europe rail link

The leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia launched an 826-kilometer (500-mile) rail link connecting the three countries on Oct. 30, establishing a freight and passenger link between Europe and China that bypasses Russia.

The line, which includes 105 km of new track, will have the capacity to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight. This capacity will rise to three million passengers and 17 million tons of freight by 2034.

The 826-km (513-mile) railway project connecting Baku with the northeastern Turkish province of Kars via Tbilisi was launched in 2007 and construction began in 2008.