Georgian Railway (GRW) Ltd. is locatedin the South Caucasus at a key point onthe ancient Silk Road between Europe andAsia (Fig. 1). The Silk Road was more thana trade route—it was a conduit forexchange of knowledge and culture thatcontributed to the development of allcountries in the region. Today’s GRWnetwork has a similar function to the SilkRoad by serving as a transport arterylinking the Black and Caspian seas. It isthe backbone of the Georgian economy,but, most importantly, it is the shortest railroute between Europe and Central Asiaand a main part of the Eurasian TradeCorridor or so-called New Silk Route.The idea of building a railway connectingthe Black and Caspian seas was first
proposed in the 1830s when it wasrealized that a railway from Poti on theBlack Sea to Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia)could carry a great deal of the tradebetween northern Iran and Europe,especially since it would be only half aslong as a railway through Turkey.Construction of the first Trans-Caucasusline started in 1865 and the first passengertrain from Poti arrived at Tbilisi on 10October 1872, marking the birth of GRW.The first trains covered the 310-kmjourney in 15 hours. The next 20 yearssaw construction of the main line throughwest Georgia and the difficult mountaindouble-track Tsipa Tunnel linking east andwest Georgia was completed in 1890.In 1883, the line was opened betweenTbilisi and Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan)to carry oil from the Caspian oilfields tothe Georgian port of Batumi from where
it was shipped to world markets. The lastmajor line between Georgia and Armeniawas opened in 1899.Rapid development of Georgian industryand agriculture between 1924 and 1940was followed by construction of newbranch lines throughout the Georgianregions. A connection with the Russianrailway network was begun during WWIIand opened in 1946 despite the war.Completion of the network between Baku,Tbilisi, and Batumi had a positive effecton the economies of Georgia and theSouth Caucasus. In the 1870s, Batumiwas a major exporter of wool, cotton,lumber, silk cocoons, and manganese,vividly showing the importance of theGRW to the Georgian Treasury. Inaddition to trade and freight, a tourist linewas built in 1894 to the Borjomi Gorge, abeauty spot famed for its forests, resorts
and mineral water. The narrow-gauge linewas extended in 1901 from Borjomi toBakuriani, a winter sports resort. Anotherline was completed in 1915 through thefamous Georgian wine-producingheartland to Kakhety.
Characteristics of GRW
Generally, the topography of Georgiapresents railway engineers with difficultchallenges; the 1538 km of tracks runthrough 45 tunnels and across 1716 largeand small bridges with a total length of40.3 km. Some lines are subject to verysevere climate conditions and theMarabda–Akhalkalaki section in southGeorgia crosses a pass at over 2200 mabove sea level. By contrast, Poti Stationis the lowest place in the network at 6 mabove sea level. This complex topography
requires about 5000 major engineeringstructures such as breakwaters, floodbanks, embankment protection, snowfences, etc.The first FERLI class steam locomotiveswere replaced by E and SU class steamlocomotives in 1923. General ElectricS-10 class electric locomotives enteredservice on 16 August 1932 when somelines were electrified. All GRW lines,including the Borjomi–Bakuriani narrow-gauge line, were finally electrified inNovember 1967.Modern VL-10 and VL-11 c la s slocomotives built by Tbilisi ElectricLocomotive Works began operations in1974. Negotiations are presently inprogress with ADtranz of Germany tobuild modern high-speed locomotives forGRW.Introduction of modern communicationsand signalling started in 1946 when
automatic blocks, centralized signalling,and train radio came into use. Moderntransport demands have seen theupgrading of communications andsignalling infrastructure to internationalstandards. For example, copper cableshave already been replaced by fiber opticson some lines in west Georgia and thecomputer network is being expandedunder the guidance of the Information-Computing Centre of the GeorgianRailway. This will greatly improve thequality of railway management.At present, GRW consists of threemanagement departments that handle allbusiness operations, 115 freight stations,eight locomotive depots, four wagonrepair depots, 11 track branch depots,seven power substation depots, fivecommunications centres, locomotive andcarriage works, railway police offices, etc.The rolling stock includes 250 electric
44 Japan Railway & Transport Review 24 • July 2000
l ocomo t i ve s , abou t 200 d i e se llocomotives, over 16,000 wagons (3478covered, 5207 open, 1433 tankers, 769refrigerated wagons, etc.).The existing GWR track and rolling stockcapacities can handle 60 trains each day,corresponding to 40 million tonnes offreight each year. Notwithstanding thecivil unrest since Georgia’s independencefrom the USSR in 1991 and despiteeconomic difficulties in the transition froma socialist planned economy to a marketeconomy, GRW has still managed toprovide Georgia with nationally importantfreight transport services (Table 1) in stark
Borjomi–Bakuriani narrow-gauge line (1902) (Georgian Railway)
Tsipa Tunnel (4 km, 777 m above sea level) (Georgian Railway)
contrast to the days of the former SovietUnion when the GRW was described asthe ‘Deadlock Way’.
New GRW Role
Lately, the political and economic mapsof Europe and Asia have seen hugechanges and one important result is theEuropean Union (EU) programme on theNew Silk Route, or TRACECA (TransportCorridor Europe–Caucasus–Asia).Support from the EU within the frameworkof the Technical Assistance for the
Commonwealth of Independent States(TACIS) programme, as well as agreementsbetween countries in central Asia and theTrans-Caucasus region, have resulted inrevival of the Eurasian Transport Corridor(EATC). EATC is the shortest, safest andpotentially cheapest route betweenEurope and Asia and is already seeinggood results with continuous growth infreight traffic, especially containertransport. For example, MitsubishiCorporation is building a moderncontainer berth at Poti to handle up to300,000 containers each year. Thepolitical stability of Georgia and the
a s s i s t ance o f va r ious Eu ropeanprogrammes have resulted in the EATCdrawing traffic from other transportcorridors.The conversion of GRW in 1998 to alimited company handling through freightbetween Asia and Europe only becamepossible after the breakup of the USSR,and the TRACECA project is a good
example of this change. Another exampleis the containerized Logistic Express,which started operations in 1996 betweenGeorgia and Azerbaijan and fully meetsthe needs of modern trans-shipment.The most effective way of shipping freightbetween Poti (in Georgia) and Tashkent(in Uzbekistan) would be to run regularcontainer services on the Tashkent–
Chardzhou–Ashkhabad–Turkmenbashi(Krasnovodsk)–Baku–Tbilisi–Poti routethrough Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,Azerbaijan to Georgia. On 25 June 1997,the 3rd Pan-European Transpor tConference in Helsinki recognized thecorridor across Georgia as an official partof the Pan-European Transport Corridorsand this recognition will help attractfreight to TRACECA.It is also most important for the GRWnetwork to have tight links with ferriesacross the Black Sea. A joint Georgian-Ukraine company called EurasianTransport Co., Ltd. has already beenestablished for this purpose and regularrailway ferries between Poti and Ilichevsk(Ukraine), and Batumi and Ilichevsk arehelping open the two countries to the restof the world.Some pract ical achievements o fTRACECA are the Poti–Varna (Bulgaria),Poti–Burgas (Bulgaria)–Novorossiysk(Russian Federation), Poti–Odessa(Ukraine), Batumi–Varna (Bulgaria) andPoti–Sochi (Russian Federation) ferryservices. Container services are alsorunning between Piraeus (Greece) andPoti, Gioia Tauro (Italy) and Poti, Istanbuland Poti, and Antwerp (Belgium) and Poti.Crude oil tankers en route through Georgia (Georgian Railway)
Figure 3 Freight Cargo in 1999
(Georgian Railway)
199968.52%
Oil products
9.89%
7.72%
6.56%
7.31%Mixed freight
Metal products
Building materials
Agricultural products
Figure 4 Freight Cargo Trend
10
4.7
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
4.8
7.2
8.5
9.4
(Mill
ion
tonn
es)
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
(Georgian Railway)
46 Japan Railway & Transport Review 24 • July 2000
Tbilisi passenger station (Georgian Railway) Tbilisi passenger station concourse (Georgian Railway)
Work is underway to establish railwayferry services between Poti, Ilichevsk andVarna, and Batumi, Ilichevsk and Varna(1520 km), and Poti and Constanta(Romania 1435 km)—a railway ferryterminal has been constructed at Poti forthese services.In the very near future, construction of anew international line is planned betweenTbilisi and Kars (Turkey) and this will helprevive the economy of southern Georgia.P rope r t r an spo r t f l ows r equ i r edevelopment of multidirectional corridorsand the governments of Turkey andGeorgia consider this project to be one ofthe most important for the long-terminterests of the entire region near the BlackSea, Caucasus and Central Asia.Geopolitical conditions are a veryimportant part of railway passage and thegreat traditions and unique cultural-socialconditions of Georgia can play a role inthis process of reviving a New Silk Road.Establishment of effective transport linksbetween Europe and Asia requiresextensive research into forecastingregional transport demand; establishingmultimodal transport systems; optimizinginfrastructure in Georgia and otherTRACECA members; arranging efficient,fast and transparent customs procedures;
establishing uniform legislation, etc.Some of these requirements have alreadybeen completed, such as the LogisticExpress container train that startedoperations in November 1996 betweenPoti and Baku.
Integration into EurasianRail Network
A main task of GRW is to integrate theEurasian transport networks. Georgiaalready has good relations with the EUand Central Asia and there is great interestin linking TRACECA with EuropeanTransport Corridors I, VII, VIII, and IX.Both political and practical steps are beingtaken towards this end. For example,Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijanand Georgia have signed agreements onfreight transport, and Ukraine, Georgiaand Azerbaijan have reached anagreement on transit passage.GRW is also developing infrastructure forcontainerized and bulk freight ina c c o r d a n c e w i t h i n t e r n a t i o n a lrequirements. Terminals at Batumi, Potiand Tbilisi have been modernized for 20-and 40-foot containers and the yards canhandle up to 10,000 units per month.In general, the system specifications
match the European requirements forintermodal transportation thanks to the EUassistance with the TRACECA programme.The e ight in i t ia l par t ic ipants o fKazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,K i rgh iz ia , Tad j ik i s tan , Georg ia ,Azerbaijan, and Armenia have recentlybeen joined by Ukraine, Mongolia andMoldova.The main purposes of the TRACECAprogramme are as follows:• Support political and economic
independence throughout the regionand accelerate integration into theEuropean and world markets usingrailways as an alternative to roadtransport
• Strengthen regional cooperation• Use the TACIS programme of the EU
as a catalyst to attract support frominternational financial institutions andprivate investors
Strategic freight including oil from theCaspian and Turkmenistan oilfields, cottonfrom Uzbekistan, grain, etc., is alreadybeing carried, and 1.5-million-tonne grainsilos are being constructed at Poti, alongwith a terminal for 200,000 containersand large warehouses.April 1999 marked the opening of the Poti/Batumi–Ilichevsk–Varna railway ferry,
Dr Bagaturia is Academic Secretary at the Georgian Branch of the
International Academy of Computer Sciences and Systems
specializing in personnel training. He is a graduate of the Moscow
Institute of Power Engineering.
Teimuraz Gorshkov
Dr Gorshkov joined Georgian Railway Ltd. as Assistant General
Director of Marketing in April 1999 after working for the Georgian
International Oil Corporation. He is a graduate of the Moscow Institute
of Complex Transport Problems.
giving added urgency to the need forbetter infrastructure as part of the directlink between Trans European Networkcorridor IX and Georgia. Furthermore, thisferry service is an extension of corridorsIV, VII and VIII to Poti, establishing a linkwith the industrialized centres of Westernand Central Europe. As a result, there is aserious and urgent need to bring the GWRmanagement and marketing infrastructureinto line with the European system. Theurgency is also greater because Georgiahas become a member of the EuropeanCouncil.As part of this integration, the EuropeanB a n k f o r R e c o n s t r u c t i o n a n dDevelopment (EBRD) has provided aUS$6 million grant to rehabilitate theGRW signalling and communicationssystems with optical fiber technology.Now that the Tbilisi–Kars line connectingGeorgia with Turkey has been built, Chinawill be able to connect directly with theTRACECA route when construction of aline to the Kirghizia border is completed,cutting the journey distance from Asia toEurope by 50%.
GRW Investment
To improve GWR freight services, studieson marketing strategy are required,especially benchmarking, analysis ofeconomics, new services, organizationalmodel, budget, target market, inventorymanagement, etc.After the state-owned GRW became alimited company in 1998, it entered a
phase of serious restructuring as outlinedin the 1999 Georgia Development Plan.This restructuring offers the new companya chance to become more efficient in amarket-driven economy by creating amarket-oriented freight management andmarketing infrastructure.New organizational structures are beingcreated and new railway legislation willsoon be presented to the Georgianparliament based on research by the UKconsulting engineers GIBB of theLAWGIBB Group and financed by theTACIS programme and World Bank.The final research report noted that GWRstill requires massive investment ininfrastructure as well as modernization ofits management structure.The report particularly noted the need forreorganization of passenger operations sothat international trains stop only at majorstations, thereby reducing journey times.As part of the renewal, long-distancepassenger transport will be restructured,carriages and rolling stock will beupdated, telephone services will be addedto passenger trains, and stations will berenovated. The consulting engineers alsorecommended rationalizing local servicesand closing some stations, but suchclosures will likely be minimized in viewof government policy.Although GWR freight traffic has alreadyachieved a degree of success, somemodernization of cargo handling systemsis required and necessary equipment willbe added to serve both mixed and bulkfreight trains. The container yards at Potiand Tbilisi are being expanded and rebuilt
due to the growth in container traffic. Allthese works will be financed from GWR’soperating revenues. Rehabilitation ofsignalling systems will be financed usingcredits worth US$20 million from theEBRD, grants of US$5 million from theEU, and local funds. These advancedsignalling systems will help increase trainspeed and service reliability.The EU is also providing US$1.2 milliontowards infrastructure for the Georgian–Azerbaijan railway.A joint venture on TALGO automaticgauge-changing axles is planned in thenear future at the Tbilisi ElectricLocomotive Works with the Spanishcompany Patentes Talgo SA. The EU hasalso allocated US$0.7 million to supportrehabilitation of rolling stock and US$ 1.5million for establishing internationaltimetables and tariffs.In the last year or two, the GeorgianMinistry of Transport has organized aseries of international conferences andworking meetings to promote integrationof Georgia into the international transportnetwork, and in particular to strengthenrailway cooperation. �
