North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

[Mher]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

This is the southern section of the North-South highway

Public Consultations with Representatives of Beneficiary Communities on the Feasibility Study of Artashat-Qajaran Road

The Designer company of Tranche 4 of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program “Spea Ingegneria Europea and IRD Engineering” JV (Italy), which carried out the feasibility study of Artashat-Qajaran road section (km 28+912km 333+000), held public consultations, presenting to the stakeholders the results of the their work.

The public consultations were organized on February 19-23 in the towns of Artashat (Ararat region), Yeghegnadzor (Vayots Dzor region) and Kapan (Syunik region), and were attended by representatives of all the beneficiary communities situated along the designed alignment.


The team leader and specialists of the consultant company (Spea), as well as the engineer, social development and resettlement and environmental specialists of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program SNCO took part in the consultations.

During consultation meetings the suggested designs of the road alignment passing through each region were presented to the affected communities, preliminary information on the bridges, tunnels and other necessary structures, as well as the possible environmental and social impacts were also presented to the stakeholders.

Program representatives listened to the opinions on the suggested design of the road and addressed the questions raised by the participants.

Once the results of the feasibility study of Artashat-Qajaran 304km section are summed up, the preliminary design works of the selected alignment will commence. At the same time, the detailed design of Sisian-Qajaran 60km section will start too.

[HyeSocialist]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Shipping company CEO: Iran - Armenia railway link not justified economically

Shipping company CEO: Iran - Armenia railway link not justified economically
YEREVAN, February 26. /ARKA/. From the strategic point of view the project to build a railway to connect Armenia to Iran is purely political, and not justified from the business point of view, the executive director of Apaven shipping company Gagik Aghajanyan told a news conference today.

"The volume of cargo turnover between Armenia and Iran is not of interest for rail transportation. It is not worth billions of dollars required to build the rail link,’ he said.

Aghajanyan added that until recently Armenia was seen as the only country that could link the countries of the region through the proposed railway link, however, today the situation has changed and the neighboring countries are now able to communicate with each other bypassing Armenia.

Aghajanyan specified that the railway from Kars (Turkey) to Akhalkalaki (Georgia) and Baku (Azerbaijan) will soon be commissioned and about a year later another railway will link Astara (Azerbaijan) with Rasht and Qazvin in Iran thus to accomplish the construction of North-South transport corridor.

During Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev's visit to Iran on February 23 the sides signed a number of agreements, including an agreement on the merger of the Iranian and Azerbaijani railways. -0-

http://arka.am/en/news/economy/shipp..._economically/

It really isn't. I mean if you want to think about it, the best thing would be to completely occupy Nakhchivan and use that passage to link Armenia via rail. The estimated $1bln dollars could be used to upgrade Armenia's electrical/communication lines and help export electricity and foster the IT industry. Armenia's geography makes heavy industry on a large scale uncompetitive. Small scale, high tech, more bang for your buck is the way to go.

[Mher]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

It really isn't. I mean if you want to think about it, the best thing would be to completely occupy Nakhchivan and use that passage to link Armenia via rail. The estimated $1bln dollars could be used to upgrade Armenia's electrical/communication lines and help export electricity and foster the IT industry. Armenia's geography makes heavy industry on a large scale uncompetitive. Small scale, high tech, more bang for your buck is the way to go.

It's actually 3.5 billion. Bigger than the Armenian annual state budget. It would be like if the US was trying to build something 4 trillion dollars
and like you alluded to, the Armenian railway ending at the Nakhichevan border in the Ararat plans, continues to Julfa, and to Meghri. The railway exists. But taking all that land is just as unlikely as funding these railway.

Our best hope would be China, or a state like that coming in, funding the whole thing for full ownership rights for political purposes.

[Eddo211]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Recognize Artsakh as part of Armenia......built a new railroad.

[londontsi]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Recognize Artsakh as part of Armenia......built a new railroad.

Brilliant idea !!!!

Do we have such leaders to drive it.

More like busy pocketing parking fines into untracable accounts.

.

[Mher]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Georgian Silence as Russia-Abkhazia Railway is Restored

Parallel to the devaluation of the national currency, the government has a new headache. Russia started restoring the railway near the occupation line in the occupied Abkhazia. According to the deputy defense minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Bulgakov, railway works are underway on 33 kilometers of track from Sokhumi up to the Enguri River. According toBulgakov’s information, 9 kilometers are already completed. After this statement of Bulgakov, the entire Georgian political elite is searching for answers to the following questions: why is the Kremlin emptying an already empty pocket and, most importantly, why was the Georgian government hiding this information for almost a month?

The Kremlin’s interest in restoring the railway infrastructure in the South Caucasus is not new. Back in 2013, at the dawn of the Georgian Dream government, the then Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili told a Radio Liberty journalist in Yerevan that it would be possible to restore the railway: “It is possible to restore the railway but of the hindering factors the main are big problems between Russia and Georgia and the problem of territorial integrity. This problem will probably not be solved very quickly but the railway issue can be solved sooner if there is will from all sides,” Ivanishvili said. President Putin responded to this statement of Ivanishvili and expressed readiness to support the restoration of the Sokhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan railway route. “We believe that with other partners it is possible to think and in case of common agreement implement projects such as transit railway transportation to the directions of Sokhumi and Tbilisi and then to Yerevan and to Russia. Implementation of such a project will create conditions for the development of cooperation among all interested parties in the region,” he said. President Putin made the decision after signing the cooperation document with the de-facto president of occupied Abkhazia Raul Khajimba. The issue of the railway on the agenda of the Georgian Dream did not end there. When the government presented the list of sites for privatization, the Minister of Economy said with regret that the Georgian Railway was not on the list. “It would be good to put 25% of the Georgian Railway for privatization. It would largely increase the income from privatization. However, at the same time we should treat the issue carefully and approach possible owners of the railway shares selectively,” Giorgi Kvirikashvili said without specifying the names of possible owners.

Concerns of analysts followed these statements about the railway on why the government was hiding its restoration for almost one month. Of the many versions of possible reasons covered by the media, the main opinion was that Russia has either already convinced the Georgian government to open the Abkhazian railway or hopes to convince them in the near future. It is noteworthy that statements on the possible opening of the railway in Abkhazia on the Russian side were made by the deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin during negotiations for the purposes of discussion but the Georgian side was not amenable. A recent topic at the Karasin-Abashidze negotiations was activation of the Georgia-Russia agreement signed in 2011, which considered putting Swiss customs officers on the Georgia-Russia border (at thePsou River). It is not ruled out that Russia will attempt to link the restoration of the railway in Abkhazia with this agreement. Interestingly, in the polemics in the press, the government reacted with enthusiasm, starting with the Defense Minister and finishing with the Probation Minister, everyone tried to guess what Russia had in mind but no minister managed to give answers to the main question – why was the government hiding the railway restoration?

The most interesting aspect in this railway saga is that information has spread already that Azerbaijan has already transferred money to the Swiss company Stadler Rail Group to buy 30 passenger carriages of international standards. These carriages will move on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which according to vesti.az, should be launched at the beginning of next year, i.e. in a few months, after the Russian railway troops finish railway works in the occupied Abkhazia in December. Therefore, it is easy to guess why the Kremlin is trying to restore the railway and what alternative it is offering to Tbilisi.

Zaza Jgharkava

http://georgiatoday.ge/news/1084/Georgian-Silence-as-Russia-Abkhazia-Railway-is-Restored

[Mher]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Armenian-Abkhaz Relations off the Rails?

OPED

The issue of Armenia has become more active in the occupied territory of Abkhazia as the Armenian population in Sokhumi is blamed for controlling the local economy.

“There is only one step from controlling the economy to controlling the whole government” – this is what they think there. Further, the ethnic Armenians are also accused of political conspiracies.

Abkhazians believe that it is exactly they who lobby the issue of renewal of the railway connection with Tbilisi which they think undermines the Abkhazian state. Abkhazians also have a number of other accusations towards ethnic Armenians, though these two are the main.

The relations between Abkhazians and Armenians became tense after the unofficial data of the 2011 general census suggested that the Armenian population equaled that of the Abkhazians and after which it soon turned into a demand for equal political rights.

Namely, the Armenian population demanded the same number of mandates as the ethnic Abkhazians in the so-called Parliament. This demand didn’t get further than the coastal Coffeekhanas at the time.

However, after the government changed in Tbilisi and the issue of the railway renewal appeared on the political agenda, the issue of quotas for ethnic Armenians acquired a much more important political meaning. Despite the position of the Kremlin, Abkhazians do not agree to renew the railway with Tbilisi.

Therefore, the so-called legislative perspectives of settling on this issue equals zero.

The fact that the political stirring up of ethnic Armenians is directly linked with the issue of the railway is confirmed by Aidamir Khishba, one of the leaders of the Abkhazian movement Aidgilara.In his interview with kavkazplus.com, Khishba accused Armenian MPs of lobbying the renewal of the railway.

“Armenian MPs in the Abkhazian Parliament are getting more and more actively involved in regional politics and are lobbying the renewal of the railway connection between Armenia and Russia via Georgia. Because the Abkhazian political forces oppose this, some uncertain projects like ‘The Abkhaz Railway Consortium’ are born, according to which the entire railway should be subordinated to businessmen from Moscow.”

The goals of the Kremlin and the de facto government did not match in this railway issue, which became apparent earlier when then-ruler of Abkhazia Alexandre Ankvab claimed he was categorically against it.

That said, despite the fact that, in answer to this rejection, he suffered the Tangerine Revolution from the Kremlin, it turned out that no greater enthusiasm is shown by Ankvab’s successor and the Kremlin’s favorite - Raul Khajinba. In Sokhumi they the latter will also end up with a revolution from the Kremlin.

The internet publications in the occupied territory are already announcing the collecting of signatures for a referendum on early presidential elections. According to the Abkhazian legislation, the referendum will be held if the initiating group are able to collect at least ten thousand signatures within two months.

And this is exactly where the votes of the ethnic Armenian population can become decisive in the issue of renewal of the railway project. However, Tbilisi is also not demonstrating complete support for the Kremlin in this issue. It seems that the Kremlin is trying to play the Armenian card not only in Sokhumi but in Tbilisi as well. In this regard, the three videos shared earlier this year on social networks are noteworthy.

The first was connected with folklore - the Georgian dance Daisi was presented as part of Armenian folklore, the issue of copyright infringement regarding the song Kvavilebis Kvekana (Country of Flowers) followed and the third was about the game played in Sokhumi by the famous Armenian football club from Yerevan – Ararati.

Taking into consideration the impulsive and explosive nature of Georgians, the above-mentioned could only give rise to negative emotions, which also raises a rhetorical question: Whose interests are behind these facts and what purpose do they serve?

Not much political analysis is needed to see that the positions of Sokhumi and Tbilisi coincide in the issue of the railway renewal. This is an additional positive fact on the way of renewing relations with Sokhumi, just like the National Hepatitis C Program, which brought half of Sokhumi’s population to Tbilisi.

Lately the visa liberalization followed which can give an opportunity to Abkhazs to escape from the political isolation.

http://georgiatoday.ge/news/3224/Armenian-Abkhaz-Relations-off-the-Rails%3F

[Federate]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Vardenis-Martakert highway is almost ready. 110 km out of 130 is ready for use.

[londontsi]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Vardenis-Martakert highway is almost ready. 110 km out of 130 is ready for use.

Is this road part of the offer Serjig is making to the baboons?

By default it is.

They better do a good job before handing it over.

Then we can boast we are the best road builders in the WORLD !!!
.

[Azad]

Re: North-South Highway/Iran-Armenia Railway

Vardenis-Martakert highway is almost ready. 110 km out of 130 is ready for use.

Good Job Armenia and Armenians!