South Caucasus Railway ( hy, Հարավկովկասյան երկաթուղի, ՀԿԵ, russian: Южно-Кавказская железная дорога, ЮКЖД) is the sole

railway company A railway company is a company within the rail industry. It can be a manufacturing firm or an rail transport operations, operator. Some railway companies operate both the trains and the track, while, particularly in the European Union, operation ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

, owned by

Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...

, responsible for all

inter-city Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

, commuter, and

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

rail transport in Armenia. The network consists of 780 kilometers (480 mi) of track with all lines in the Russian gauge.

Main information

On 13 February 2008, the

Government of Armenia A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

signed an agreement to transfer 100% of the state-owned Armenian Railways to

. According to the agreement, the concession period is 30 years, with a possible extension for another 10 years by mutual agreement of the parties. In accordance with the terms of the tender, existing railway employees (4,300 people), except those of retirement age, were transferred to the staff of South Caucasus Railway on salary increases of up to 20%.

Routes

South Caucasus Railway currently operates the following services: 1. Armenia - Georgia express/sleeper service:

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's ...

via

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

and Vanadzor 2. Yerevan to Araks (Myasnikan) /

- 3 services a day plus 1 additional short journey to Araks (an onward branch from Gyumri to

Artik Artik (Armenian: ), is a town and urban municipal community in the Shirak Province of Armenia. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 19,534. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Artik is around 18,800. Artik is famou ...

, Pemzashen and Maralik has not run a passenger service since 2013, whilst a freight only line also branches from Armavir he station prior to Araksto the

Metsamor Metsamor ( hy, Մեծամոր, ), is a town and urban municipal community in the Armavir Province of Armenia. It is famous for being home to Armenia's Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, the only nuclear plant in the Transcaucasian region. As of the ...

power plant) 3. Yerevan to Ararat &

Yeraskh Yeraskh ( hy, Երասխ, formerly, Arazdayan) is a village in the Ararat Province of Armenia. Yeraskh is the closest Armenian village to the closed border with Azerbaijan. The settlement is adjacent to Heydarabad, Azerbaijan across the borde ...

- 1 service a day 4. Summer-only service from Yerevan (Almast station) to

Hrazdan Hrazdan ( hy, Հրազդան), is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia serving as the administrative centre of Kotayk Province, located northeast of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 41,875. I ...

, Sevan and Shorzha (a branch from Hrazdan to

Dilijan Dilijan ( hy, Դիլիջան) is a spa town and urban municipal community in the Tavush Province of Armenia. The town is one of the most important resorts in Armenia, situated within the Dilijan National Park. The forested town is home to nume ...

via the 8km-long

Meghradzor Meghradzor ( hy, Մեղրաձոր), meaning, ''valley of honey''; formerly known as ''Taycharukh''), is a village in the Kotayk Province of Armenia, northwest of Hrazdan. The village is located to the south of the Tsaghkunyats mountain range, al ...

Fioletovo Fioletovo ( hy, Ֆիոլետովո) is a village in the Lori Province of Armenia. Toponymy The village was known as ''Nikitino'' until 1936, when it was renamed ''Fioletovo'' in honour of the Russian Communist activist and one of the 26 Baku ...

tunnel has not been used since 2012 nd_onward_to_ nd_onward_to_Ijevan_since_1992">Ijevan.html"_;"title="nd_onward_to_Ijevan">nd_onward_to_Ijevan_since_1992 The_latter_route_is_used_year_round_by_freight_trains,_running_beyond_Shorzha_to_transport_gold_ore_from_Zod_gold_mine.html" ;"title="Ijevan_since_1992.html" ;"title="Ijevan.html" ;"title="nd onward to Ijevan">nd onward to Ijevan since 1992">Ijevan.html" ;"title="nd onward to Ijevan">nd onward to Ijevan since 1992 The latter route is used year round by freight trains, running beyond Shorzha to transport gold ore from Zod gold mine">Sotk mine just beyond Vardenis back via the Yerevan western bypass freight railway line to the refinery in Ararat (as well as by trains serving the Hrazdan Cement plant located 5km up the Dilijan branch). A link also exists to the Yerevan Metro at Charbakh Depot via the Karmir Blur siding.

International links

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

– closed – same gauge *

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

– open – same gauge *

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

– via Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan enclave – closed –

break of gauge With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot ...

– / *

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

-Akhuryan/ Doğukapı, closed since 1993 –

-/ Except with Georgia, all international railway links between Armenia and its neighbors have been closed since 1993.

References

Links

South Caucasus Railway Official Website
{{Russian Railways Transport in Armenia Russian Railways

Main information

Routes

International links

See also

References

Links