Yerevan Metro Rails Unsafe, Government Allocates Funds

The rails of the Yerevan Metro named after Karen Demirchyan are in extremely worn condition, directly threatening the safety of citizen transport and the safe operation of the metro system. During today’s government session, a decision was adopted without discussion or reporting, whereby the executive approved the proposal to purchase 4,300 meters of rail from the South Caucasus Railway, with a total cost of 141 million drams, including transportation costs and VAT. This amount will be allocated from the state budget.

An analysis of the market revealed that the price for 1 meter of Yerevan Metro rails starts at 37,000 drams. Meanwhile, the South Caucasus Railway has offered a price of 32,800 drams per meter. Additionally, the company has proposed to carry out the supply within a significantly reduced timeframe of up to 45 days.

The decision notes, “By analyzing the existing market prices and delivery times, we find it appropriate to acquire the mentioned batch of rails from South Caucasus Railway LLC.” It should be noted that according to a study conducted in August 2021, the operational lines of the Yerevan Metro have 4,400 meters of expired rails, 2,000 meters of defective rails, and 775 meters that require immediate replacement, with no meters in reserve.

Moreover, every year during operation, an additional 250-400 meters of new defective rails emerge, which, according to operational regulations, must be replaced. The last time rails were purchased for the Yerevan Metro was in March 2014, amounting to 4,400 meters. These were installed on operational lines between 2014 and 2018. Since 2018, the company has not purchased new rails, although 7 tenders have been announced during 2020-2021 that yielded no results.