Georgian Railway needs over 6 hours to arrive from Tbilisi to Batumi. According to the Government of Georgia, the railway modernization project will reduce the time between Tbilisi and Batumi by almost an hour. The railway upgrade project was signed as early as 2011, which was supposed to open in 2019.
Georgian Railway names COVID-19 pandemic among the reasons of construction delay and explains that they have no complaints with the project contractor "23rd Railway Bureau of China".
“Completion of the main construction part of the project is scheduled for the end of 2022. Consequently, it will be difficult to determine the exact opening period, but by the end of next year all important sections should be operational.
We did not have any complaints with the contractor due to improper performance of the obligations," the statement reads.
According to Georgian Railway, after the completion of the project, transportation time from Tbilisi to Batumi will be reduced by about 40-50 minutes.
"The project value has been reduced to 249 million Swiss francs. However, in addition to the above, the project needs other additional funds directly for the laying of rails and other infrastructural works. As of today, 233.9 million Swiss francs ($ 250 million) is spent from the total amount. And 23.3 million Swiss francs are reserved before the end of the warranty period”, - Georgian Railway declares.
