Border Crossings: Georgia - Turkey

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(Tbilisi - Marabda - Akhalkalaki -) Kartsakhi RK - border (- Mezra - Kars) TCDD

[D] Construction started in 2008 of a 105 km line between a junction east of Akhalkalaki (RK) and Mezra (TCDD), 13 km east of Kars - 29 km in Georgia and 76 km in Turkey. The line will be 1435 mm gauge, with gauge change facilities near Akhalkalaki. Its purpose is to reestablish a rail link between Azerbaijan and Turkey through Georgia following closure of the (Kars -) Dogukapi - Ahuryan (- Tbilisi) line in July 1993, when Turkey closed its border with Armenia.

The project was originally to be completed by 2010 but has been delayed by "complex terrain in some regions of Georgia". The first test train between Akhalkalaki and Kartsakhi ran in December 2014. The line is now expected to be complete by the end of 2015 although passenger services are unlikely to start before 2016.

See also