On 30 October, the Presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili and of Uzbekistan, Abdulla Aripov, as well as delegations of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, officially launched the new Asian-Europe railway corridor, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars.
“The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a historic project of strategic importance. The length of this railroad is approximately 850 kilometers, 504 kilometers of which go through Azerbaijan. The railway line will be very important for the development of business, mutually beneficial cooperation,” the President of Azerbaijan said during the ceremony. 
Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway is a regional rail link project to directly connect Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
“With this ceremony, we are putting into service one of the links of the new Silk Road venture, initiated with the goal of connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. We have now finalized the most important phase of the Middle Corridor project with the first train embarking on its journey as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project. We thereby announce the establishment of an uninterrupted railway line from London to China,” President Erdoğan said.
“Today, we are officially launching the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, which is the best illustration of the successful implementation of joint strategic projects. The launch of the new railway line will bring about the development of complementary infrastructure, simplifying the process tapping into new markets and promoting the development of the tourism and processing industries, and creating new jobs, all of which is a precondition to our region’s sustainable economic development and progress,” the Prime Minister of Georgia said. 
The line is intended to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight at the initial stage. The capacity will then reach 3 million passengers and 17 million tons of cargo. “The new railway route will foster unlocking our countries’ transit and logistics potential and further strengthening the region’s transport and trade status. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, along with freight transport, will serve one million passengers every year, Georgian Prime Minister added.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway connects not only the three countries it goes through to each other, but also all the Central Asian Republics with the western transportation route, President Erdoğan noted, and underlined that “The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway has a capacity of carrying 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo,” and that its capacity will significantly increase by 2034.
The new line largely draws on expanding trade and economic relations with China. Currently, the journey of a freight train from China to Georgia via Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan takes 8 days.
The 850 km BTK rail line will extend from the bank of the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan to the capital city of Georgia and then cut south to the east of Turkey before feeding into the broader Turkish rail system and Europe beyond. This rail line is designed to become a key part of the southern route of the emerging New Silk Road network of trade and transport corridors that are coming together between China and Europe.
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