New Wagons from May, Electric Trains from August: South Caucasus Railway to Expand

The South Caucasus Railway will be supplemented with new rolling stock, with new passenger cars arriving in May-June and new electric trains in August. This information was provided by the General Director of South Caucasus Railway LLC, Alexey Melnikov, during a meeting with the Minister of Economy, Vahan Kerobyan, at the Ministry of Economy. The information is reported on the ministry's website.

During the meeting, Alexey Melnikov also presented some issues facing the company, emphasizing the need for 24/7 customs control, the absence of phytosanitary inspections at customs checkpoints, and the issue of passenger transport subsidies from the state.

The General Director of South Caucasus Railway also underlined the importance of creating transport-transit hubs and ensuring improved environments along and around railway lines. Vahan Kerobyan briefly introduced Melnikov to the projects for constructing a “Dry Port” in Gyumri and an Industrial Park in Ararat, aimed at creating an environment conducive for companies to operate and export products to the EAEU or third countries.

Kerobyan stressed that railway connectivity is an essential part of implementing these projects. Alexey Melnikov found the idea interesting, noting that the Gyumri station has great capacity potential that can be utilized during the project’s implementation.

The minister also suggested considering the demand presented by Armenian entrepreneurs for organizing railway transportation of trailers, including trucks and buses. In response, Alexey Melnikov expressed his willingness to discuss transportation logistics schemes individually with them.

Vahan Kerobyan also discussed the future prospects of having high-speed trains, emphasizing that their presence would significantly increase tourist flows to Armenia. Alexey Melnikov remarked that the issue is challenging due to the mountainous terrain and is quite costly, but not impossible.