Georgian Railway

Georgian Railway

Georgian Railway Network
Technical
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Length	1,576 km (979 mi)
Other
Website	www.railway.ge
Route map Legend 0km* km North Caucus Railway to Sochi Russia Abkhazia 1,997 Leselidze 2,000 Gagra 2,025 Gudauta 2,063 New Athos 2,083 Sukhumi 2,099 Gulripshi 2,114 Ochamchire 2,153 0 26 Tkvarcheli Achigvara Gali 2,177 Abkhazia Georgia 2,188 Zugdidi Jvari Batumi 2,226 Khobi Makhinjauri 104 40 Poti Kobuleti 82 0 2,232 Senaki 0 2,260 Samtredia Ozurgeti 23 Tskhaltubo Vale 91 Kutaisi Akhaltsikhe 46 Tqibuli Atskuri 0 2,321 Zestaponi Borjomi 30 00 Chiatura Bakuriani 37 33 Tskhinvali Khashuri 0 2,384 South Ossetia Georgia Nikozi Gori 2,458 0 Tbilisi 2,503 Telavi Kazreti Gurjaani Bolnisi Marneuli Tsnori Dedoplis Tsqaro Rustavi Georgia Armenia Georgia Azerbaijan Vanadzor Agstafa to Yerevan to Baku Notes Main line distances measured from Moscow. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are de jure part of Georgia, but de facto not under Georgian control international border de facto border This diagram: view talk edit

Georgian Railway LLC (

The Marabda to Akhalkalaki line opened on 31 December 1986.^[2]

The rail connection between Kars and Tbilisi via Gyumri (Alexandropol, Leninakan) that began in 1889 ended in 1993 with the closing of the Turkish-Armenian border.^{[citation needed]}

Infrastructure

Due to the challenging mountainous geography of Georgia, railway engineers have often been faced with some difficult challenges. In 1890, the dual tracking of the Tsipa tunnel was completed, allowing faster passage of East-West traffic.^[2]

On August 16, 1932, for the first time in the

In 2009 Georgian Railway took delivery of the first of an order of eight inter-city EMUs produced by CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock, China, at a cost of US$6M each. The 3 kV dc trains have a maximum speed of 130 km/h and each four-car set seats a total of 300 passengers in first and second class accommodation.

In 2016 four double-decker electric trains, model ESh2, of the Swiss company Stadler Bussnang AG were ordered at a cost of US$11M each. The 3 kV dc trains have a maximum speed of 160 km/h and each four-car set seats a total of 530 passengers in business class, first and second class accommodation.

As of 2022, there were 176 locomotives and 4,469 freight cars in service.^[6]

Gallery

• 
  VL11 electric locomotive
• 
  Seated coach interior
• 
  ER2 electric multiple unit
• 
  ER2 unit interior
• 
  ER2M electric multiple unit
• 
  ES electric multiple unit
• 
  VMK electric multiple unit
• 
  GRS (ESh2) electric multiple unit
• 
  GRS (ESh2) unit interior

Present day

Following the dissolution of the

• standard-gauge) connection proposed^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Armenia – open – 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (Tbilisi–Gyumri–Yerevan
  line)
• connected with Georgia's 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) railway at Akhalkalaki.^[9][10]
• Sokhumi
  .

Until 2004 Georgian Railway had been significantly affected by

The railway company was restructured in the same year, and the general manager became subordinate to a supervisory board. From June 2004 until October 2005 David Onoprishvili, a former finance minister and a professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, was general manager. ^{[citation needed]}

As part of a modernization program, 2,445 employees were laid off, while wages for remaining employees were increased by about 17 percent. Tariffs for goods (freight) transport were lowered, while modernized, air-conditioned rail cars and express services were launched for passengers, including four Stadler passenger trains. A program of new and renovated station buildings commenced in 2006. The station building of the Tbilisi central station, excluding the rail infrastructure, was reconstructed and officially inaugurated in May 2010. The stations Makhinjauri (a suburb of Batumi) and Kobuleti also received new station buildings.

The 63 km long Zestafoni–Moliti–Khashuri section (“Gorges” section) is part of the main Georgian railway line across a mountainous alignment, having a gradient with very steep slopes and tight curves. This alignment imposes very low speeds and leads to various operational problems. It takes 1.5 hours for a passenger train to cover the 63 kilometres (39 mi) section, and much longer for freight trains because of brakes overheating. For this reason, the company is modernizing the section with the target to increase capacity, reduce travel time and improve safety as well as railway operation. With a length of 8.3 km the new T9 tunnel will soon be the longest rail tunnel in Georgia and is an essential element of the above-mentioned railway section. The tunnel will consist of two parallel tubes connected with cross passages at intervals of 300 m. The project is planned to be completed in late 2019. First trains will go in 2020, time for Tbilisi - Batumi route will be reduced by 40 minutes.

The direct railway line through the center of Tbilisi was planned to be replaced by a bypass north of Tbilisi. According to the plans: The central station will be closed to passengers, and the existing infrastructure will be dismantled. Instead of a central station, two Tbilisi stations, the Didube station in the northwest part of the city, and the Navtlugi (Samgori) station in the east, will become stub-end stations served only by passenger trains. Because of this, through passenger service and direct passenger transfers will not be possible in the future.

However, instead of the expected reduction of environmental and traffic problems, the reductions are expected to cause more traffic problems, due to the fact that the surface (bus) and underground (Metro) public transport system of Tbilisi is oriented toward the central station. Transportation specialists and railway companies strongly disagree with the costly solutions recommended by Booz Allen.^[11][12]

Sponsorships

As of 2020, the company has been the official jersey sponsor of the Georgia men's national basketball team.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery of stations

• 
  Station of Kobuleti
• 
  Airport station in Tbilisi
• 
  Station of Batumi
• 
  Station of Gurjaani
• 
  Station of Borjomi
• 
  Station of

  Tskaltubo
• 
  Station of Mtskheta
• 
  Station of Samtredia

See also

• Transport in Georgia
• Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Georgia.

• Georgian Railway website
• UN Map