Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 10 2006
ARMENIA JOINS TRANSASIAN RAILWAY NETWORK CREATION PROGRAM
BUSAN, NOVEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia and 17 other countries,
including Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey and Russia signed an agreement in
the city of Busan (South Korea), by which they envisage to create a
branchy network of railways that will join Asia and Europe. According
to Radio Liberty, under this program initiated in the UN as far back
as the 1960s and now called "Railway Silk Road", the railaways will
pass through 28 countries covering over 80 thousand kilometers.
The RA Deputy Minister of Transport and Communication Hrant Beglarian
told Associated Press that Armenia with its only railway exit to a
Georgian port hopes that implementation of the program will allow to
reduce the price of transported goods. "Any regional program related
to cooperation in the sphere of transport is very important for us,"
the deputy minister stated.
According to preliminary calculations, new railways of a total of
6,500 km will be constructed, which will require about 2.5 bln USD.