SOUTH CAUCASUS RAILWAYS CUTS TRAVEL TIME BETWEEN YEREVAN AND BLACK SEA RESORT BATUMI

/ARKA/
June 2, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 2. / ARKA /. The South Caucasus Railways (SCR) company
operating Armenia’s railroads, said today it has significantly
cut the travel time between Armenia’s capital Yerevan and Batumi,
a popular destination of Armenian holiday-makers on the Black Sea
coast of neighbouring Georgia.

Now it will take ‘Armenia’ train 16 hours 37 minutes to travel from
Yerevan to Batumi and 16 hours and 55 minutes to travel back. Last
year the travel time was 18 and 18 hours and 13 minutes respectively.

The company said in a press release that reducing the travel time
was due to upgrading of railway tracks and rolling stock.

On May 16 the South Caucasus Railways (SCR) launched an automated
ticket sales and reservation system for Georgia-bound trains. The
system, developed on the basis of Orion information platform, operates
in Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor and Armavir towns. On June 15 the South
Caucasus Railways will start operating Yerevan-Batumi-Yerevan trains
that will run until September 30. An additional train will run on
Tuesdays and Fridays.

The South Caucasus Railways is run by Russian Railways. The
concessional agreement was concluded in 2008 for 30 years, with a
right of extension for another 20 years after the first 20 years of
operation.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress