Azerbaijan and Georgia speed up rail traffic at the border: what changes for the Middle Corridor

The Middle Corridor is back in focus. At the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia, at Böyük Kəsik station, the clearance of trains has been reorganised – a technical detail that can speed up the entire route between Asia and Europe.

The reason for the interest in the corridor is obvious. The northern route is restricted by sanctions, the southern one is avoided because of the war risks for shipping. That is why shippers are increasingly turning their attention to the route via the South Caucasus.

The railway administrations of Azerbaijan and Georgia have agreed that ADY electric locomotives will in future operate on the Böyük Kəsik – Tbilisi – Böyük Kəsik line without the trains being uncoupled en route. Until now, the wagons were inspected twice: at the Azerbaijani station of Böyük Kəsik and again at the Georgian station of Gardabani. Now one inspection is enough. In the Azerbaijan–Georgia direction it takes place in Böyük Kəsik, in the opposite direction at the junction station in Tbilisi.

The new procedure has already been tested. According to the available information, it works.

In addition, both countries are digitising the exchange of data on trains and freight, including at customs level. In logistics this has long been just as important as rails and locomotives: how fast a route is increasingly depends on how fast states exchange information.

The figures confirm this. In 2019 around 759,000 tonnes of freight were transported on the Middle Corridor; in 2025 it was already 4.119 million tonnes – more than five times as much in six years.

The picture is similar for the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway line. On the Georgian section (184 km), 13 stations, 55 bridges, 8 traction substations and more than 320 buildings and facilities were modernised; in addition, more than 30 km of new track were added. Part of this work on Georgian territory was financed by Azerbaijan. As a result, the capacity of the line rose from 1 to 5 million tonnes per year – a fivefold increase.

In Alat, one of the most modern ports on the Caspian Sea is being built, and a cargo airport is also planned for the free trade zone there in the longer term.

In the past, Azerbaijan's favourable geographical location was regarded as its greatest trump card. Today something else counts: the country is investing in infrastructure and removing bottlenecks along the route, not only on its own territory but also abroad, as the example of the Georgian BTK section shows.

In the end, everyone benefits: shippers from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, European importers and, not least, Georgia itself, which gets a more modern railway line. The agreement at Böyük Kəsik station looks like a small step. But it is precisely from such steps that a route emerges which can compete with the usual connections between Asia and Europe.