Turkey is preparing to lay the foundation for the Kars-Igdir-Aralık-Dilucu railway line, which will become part of the so-called "Zangezur Corridor," CNN Turk reports.

Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, announced that the respective ceremony will take place on Friday.

The new railway line will be approximately 224 kilometers long. It will consist of two railways with electrification and modern signaling systems, and its capacity is designed to transport 5.5 million passengers and 15 million tons of freight annually.

The project includes complex engineering structures: five tunnels, bridges, viaducts, and dozens of crossings.

The total cost of the construction is estimated at approximately 110 billion Turkish liras, part of which is secured by an external loan of 2.4 billion euros.

This railway line is planned to be put into operation by the end of 2029.

The “Zangezur Corridor” is considered a strategic transport artery that will connect Turkey with Azerbaijan through the latter’s Nakhchivan exclave and will provide access to Eurasian routes, Turkish media write. They add that the implementation of this project should strengthen Turkey’s position as a major logistics center, increase the efficiency of cargo transportation between Asia and Europe, and give the region additional geopolitical importance.