Azerbaijan Railways

Azerbaijan Railways
Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları

Azerbaijan railway map (current)
Dates of operation	1991–current
Predecessor	Russian Imperial Railways 1878-1917 Soviet Railways 1917-1991 (the predecessors of Azerbaijan Railways)
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in)
Electrification	3 kV (3,000 V) DC
Length	2,918 km (1,813 mi)
Headquarters	Baku, Azerbaijan
Website	Azerbaijan Railways Official Site

Azerbaijan Railways (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları) is the national state-owned rail transport operator in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The 2,918 km (1,813 mi), 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 ²⁷⁄₃₂ in) gauge network is electrified at 3 kV (3,000 V) DC. The headquarters of the Azerbaijan Railways is in the capital Baku.

The Azerbaijan Railways is one of the successors of the Soviet Railways, which was the successor of the Russian Imperial Railways.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 its railway system broke up into national railway systems of various former Soviet republics from which the independent Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan Railways emerged that year.

The first railway line in Azerbaijan was laid in 1878 and was opened in 1880 in the suburbs outside Baku.

There are 2,918 km (1,813 mi) of rail tracks out of which 72% or 2,117 km (1,315 mi) are single track and 28% or 815 km (506 mi) are double tracks.

Of the total exploitation length of route 43% or 1,272 km (790 mi) are electrified.

About 38% of the length of the railway routes or 1,126 km (700 mi) are equipped with full automatic blocks and 16% or 479 km (298 mi) are equipped with centralized dispatchers.

The railway has 176 stations, 2 of which Biləcəri (in Baku) and Şirvan are completely automated, 12 stations have container courts with adapted mechanisms and machines, 3 stations – Keşlə (in Baku), Gəncə and Xırdalan are able to supply high cargo containers.