{"id":271070,"date":"2025-08-22T21:46:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T11:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=65282"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:46:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T11:46:17","slug":"turkiye-starts-building-kars-dilucu-railway-a-key-part-of-the-zangezur-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=271070","title":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye starts building Kars-Dilucu railway, a key part of the Zangezur Corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\u00fcrkiye has officially started construction works for the Kars-I\u011fd\u0131r-Aral\u0131k-Dilucu railway line, a 224-kilometre project that will link up to the future Zangezur Corridor. The project, valued at 2,4 billion euros, includes a long list of new infrastructural additions to the region: five stations, five tunnels, 19 cut-and-cover tunnels, 10 bridges, three viaducts, 144 underpasses, 27 overpasses and 480 culverts.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Once completed, the Kars-Dilucu railway will consist of an electrified double-track line with a capacity of 15 million tonnes of freight and 5,5 million passengers per year.<\/p>\n

According to infrastructure manager Abdulkadir Uralo\u011flu, the new railway aims to strengthen economic cooperation between T\u00fcrkiye, Azerbaijan and Armenia, stimulate the normalisation of diplomatic relations in the South Caucasus, and boost the strategic role of the Middle Corridor.<\/p>\n

\"Groundbreaking
The Kars-Dilucu railway shown in red, the Zangezur Corridor in green. Image: \u00a9 Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Kars-Dilucu railway would enable continuous rail freight traffic from Azerbaijan to T\u00fcrkiye along an entirely new route. Simultaneously, it would give the Middle Corridor a second path through the Caucasus. Currently, the only possible rail route to cross the Caucasus for Asia-Europe trade flows runs through Georgia, namely the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line.<\/p>\n

The railway will also expand T\u00fcrkiye’s domestic rail capacity, connecting production centres in eastern Anatolia with international markets, says the Turkish infrastructure ministry. Kars is expected to become the \u201csteel gate\u201d of the corridor.<\/p>\n