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Company type | Closed joint-stock company |
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Industry | Transport |
Founded | 2009 |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Azerbaijan, CIS Countries, Baltic states, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey, Iran |
Key people | Rovshan Rustamov |
Services | Rail Transport |
Owner | Republic of Azerbaijan, (Parent Company AZCON Holding) |
Number of employees | +17,000 |
Website | Azerbaijan Railways Official Site |
Overview | |
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Dates of operation | 1991–current |
Predecessor | Russian Imperial Railways 1878-1917 Soviet Railways 1917-1991 (the predecessors of Azerbaijan Railways) |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) |
Electrification | 3 kV (3,000 V) DC |
Length | 2,918 km (1,813 mi) |
Azerbaijan Railways (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları) is the national state-owned rail transport operator in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The 2,918 km (1,813 mi), 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge network is electrified at 3 kV (3,000 V) DC.[1] The headquarters of the Azerbaijan Railways is in the capital Baku.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 its railway system broke up into national railway systems of various former Soviet republics, from which the independent Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Railways both emerged in that year.
The first railway line in Azerbaijan was laid in 1878 and was opened in 1880 in the suburbs outside Baku.[2]
The railway has 176 stations, 2 of which Biləcəri (in Baku) and Şirvan are completely automated, 12 stations have container courts with adapted mechanisms and machines, 3 stations – Keşlə (in Baku), Gəncə and Xırdalan are able to supply high cargo containers.
Along with the Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway, a regional rail link project that directly connects Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan since 2017, the railway lines are being modernised in Azerbaijan with new fast rail stock to replace the old rail stock.[3]