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Native name | სს საქართველოს რკინიგზა |
|---|---|
| Company type | State ownedJoint-stock company |
| Industry | railway |
| Founded | October 10, 1872; 153 years ago (1872-10-10) inTbilisi,Georgia |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Georgia |
| Revenue | ₾357.8 million (2014) |
| Total assets | ₾1.2309 billion |
| Total equity | ₾676 million[1] |
| Owner | JSC Partnership Fund (100%) |
Number of employees | ~13,000 (2017) |
| Website | railway.ge |
Georgian Railway (Georgian:საქართველოს რკინიგზა,romanized:sakartvelos rk'inigza) is a fullystate-ownedrailway company ofGeorgia, both managing infrastructure and operating freight and passenger travel in Georgia.
A vital artery linking theBlack Sea and theCaspian Sea, it sits on the shortest route betweenEurope andCentral Asia.[2] Built to1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) standardRussian gauge, at present the fully electrified mainline of the Georgian Railway is 1,323.9 km (total: 1,576 km) in length, consisting of 1,422 bridges, 32 tunnels, 22 passenger and 114goods stations.[3] In 2017, Georgian Railways passenger ridership was 2,684,000,[4] of which 100,000 were international passengers, the rest domestic.[5]
The railway was founded in 1865,[2] and operations started in 1871 betweenPoti and Kvirila (present dayZestaponi). The first passenger train ran on October 10, 1872, from Poti toTbilisi central station.[2]
From this central spine, the railway network expanded with links to:Rioni toKutaisi (1877), Rioni-Tkibuli (1887), Zestaponi toChiatura (1895). The Tbilisi toBaku line became operational in 1883, allowing transportation ofAzeri oil through the port ofBatumi. In 1899, theKars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway connection between Georgia andArmenia was established.[2] TheKhashuri toBorjomi link was built in 1894, with the900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)Borjomi to Bakuriani narrow-gauge line operational from 1902, to serve the higher levelskiing community. TheKakheti railway branch line was completed in 1915.[2]
The second major development of Georgian railways was due to rapid industrialisation and need for better distribution of agricultural products, includingtea,citrus andwine produce. This resulted in the construction of the branch lines to:Natanebi-Ozurgeti (1924);Brotseula-Tskaltubo (1934),Senaki-Ingiri-Gali (1930), Gali-Ochamchire-Sokhumi (1938),Gori-Tskhinvali (1940). The construction of theSokhumi-Adler allowing direct connection to theRussian Railways network started duringWorld War II (laterSoviet Railways), and was in full operation by 1949.[2]
TheMarabda toAkhalkalaki line opened on 31 December 1986.[2]
The rail connection between Kars and Tbilisivia Gyumri (Alexandropol, Leninakan) that began in 1889 ended in 1993 with the closing of the Turkish-Armenian border.[citation needed]
Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, theGeorgian Government took control of many of the key assets of the formerSoviet Railways in the formerGeorgian SSR and undertook an aggressive privatisation campaign. The railway assets of Georgia were formed into the new 100% government-owned companyJSC Georgian Railway – the biggest employer in the country (12,700 employees), which operates under the public law of the Enterprise Management Agency, part of the Ministry of Economic Development. It is charged with both management and maintenance of the rail infrastructure, as well as all operations of passenger and freight services. The team which forms the management body consist of The Assembly of Partners, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors. Company revenue in 2014 was $US287 million with a high EBITDA margin of 48.9%, debt was $US560 million. More than 95% of revenue comes from freight operations, more than half of which is transit.[3]
Until 2004 Georgian Railway had been significantly affected bycorruption. On the one hand, modernization and maintenance of the railway were neglected; for example, out of 11,000rail cars, only 7,000 were in operation. On the other hand, thefootball stadium of Lokomotiv Tbilisi, the team of Georgian Railway, had one of the most modern sports sites in the country. General manager Akaki Chkhaidze was arrested in 2004 and spent several months in custody, before he redeemed himself for 3 million US dollars.
The railway company was restructured in the same year, and the general manager became subordinate to a supervisory board. From June 2004 until October 2005David Onoprishvili, a former finance minister and a professor atVanderbilt University inNashville, Tennessee, was general manager.[citation needed]
As part of a modernization program, 2,445 employees werelaid off, while wages for remaining employees were increased by about 17 percent. Tariffs for goods (freight) transport were lowered, while modernized,air-conditioned rail cars and express services were launched for passengers, including four Stadler passenger trains. A program of new and renovated station buildings commenced in 2006. The station building of the Tbilisi central station, excluding the rail infrastructure, was reconstructed and officially inaugurated in May 2010. The stationsMakhinjauri (a suburb ofBatumi) andKobuleti also received new station buildings.
The 63 kilometres (39 mi) long Zestaponi–Moliti–Khashuri section (“Gorges” section) is a part of the main Georgian railway line across mountaineous terrain, with very steep gradient and tight curves. The track alignment imposes very low speeds on the line, and it leads to various operational problems. Currently it takes ca. 1.5 hours for a passenger train to cover the section, and much longer for freight trains because of brakes overheating. For this reason, the company is modernizing the section in order to increase capacity, reduce travel time, and improve safety as well as railway operation. Along this section of track several new tunnels, of which the new ca. 8.4 kilometres (5.2 mi) T9 tunnel will be the longest rail tunnel in Georgia,[6][7] will be built. The T9 tunnel will consist of two parallel tubes connected with cross passages at intervals of 300 m.[6] The project is planned to be completed in late 2019. After the completion of the tunnel, travel time for passenger trains on the Tbilisi - Batumi route will be reduced by 40 minutes.[6]
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| Track gauge | 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 1,576 km (979 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Due to the challenging mountainous geography of Georgia, railway engineers have often been faced with some difficult challenges. In 1890, the dual tracking of theTsipa tunnel was completed, allowing faster passage of East-West traffic.[2]
On August 16, 1932, for the first time in theUSSR, the first electric traction train ran in theSurami pass. TheGeneral Electric Company produced the initial eight electric locomotives of Class S for the service, followed by an additional 21 Class Ss built by theKolomna andDinamo works between 1932 and 1934. By November 1967 all Georgian railway was electrified, including theBorjomi-Bakuriani narrow-gauge line.[2] (Some lines are no longer electrically operated due to political and economic instability and war, particularly in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.)
PostWorld War II, from 1946 the USSR army engineers with the prospect of connection to their system introduced modern communications, automatisation andAutomatic Block Signalling systems. This was followed by the introduction of on train and guard radio communication systems, a process which was completed by 1949.[2]
At Georgia independence, Georgian Railway operated Soviet trains. Maintenance, repair and modernisation were performed at "Elmavalmshenebeli" plant in Tbilisi and "Carriage-Building Company" in Rustavi.
In 2009 Georgian Railway took delivery of the first of an order of eightinter-city EMUs produced by CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock, China, at a cost of US$6M each. The 3 kV dc trains have a maximum speed of 130 km/h and each four-car set seats a total of 300 passengers in first and second class accommodation.
In 2016 four double-decker electric trains, modelESh2, of the Swiss companyStadler Rail AG were ordered at a cost of US$11M each. The 3 kV DC trains have a maximum speed of 160 km/h and each four-car set seats a total of 530 passengers in business class, first and second class accommodation.
As of 2022, there were 176 locomotivesand 4,469 freight cars in service.[8]
Following the2008 South Ossetia war, Russian army forces entered parts of Georgia and damaged key Georgian assets. This included a railway bridge near the western Georgian town ofKaspi,[9] and application ofmines to the mainline west of Gori resulted in the complete derailment and resultant fire of an oil train.[10]
The lines located inAbkhazia andSouth Ossetia are not under the control of the Georgian Railway. Lines fromNikozi toTskhinvali (5 km) and fromOchamchire toEnguri River are not in use; much of the track and overhead on these two lines have beenlooted, and stations such asGali have been destroyed or heavily damaged. Lines fromPsou River toOchamchire and fromOchamchire toTkvarcheli are operated by separatistAbkhazian Railways.
Azerbaijan –open –1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (Tbilisi-Baku line); a through1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard-gauge) connection proposed[citation needed]
Armenia –open –1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (Tbilisi–Gyumri–Yerevan line)
Turkey –open –standard-gauge line (Akhalkalaki–Kars); this standard-gauge line isconnected with Georgia's1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) railway atAkhalkalaki.[11][12]
Russia –closed –1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) –via the breakawayAbkhazia – de jure closed since theWar in Abkhazia (1992–1993), de facto operates partly by Abkhazian Railway without track fromEnguri toSokhumi.As of 2020, the company has been the official jersey sponsor of theGeorgia men's national basketball team.[citation needed]
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