The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction project is nearing completion, said Ahmet Arslan, Minister of Transport, Maritime and Communication of Turkey, according to Anadolu news agency of the country.

The railway is being built on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.

The peak capacity of this railway link will be 17 million tons per year. 

At the initial phase, however, this indicator will be around one million passengers, and 6.5 million tons of cargo.

Initially it was planned that this railway would be put into operation before the end of 2016.

Turkey is keen that this railway continue to Nakhichevan, and then to Iran and Pakistan.