Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure is considering plans to restore the Gyumri-Kars railway line, which was closed in 1993. In November 2024, at the Akhurik-Akyaka border crossing, representatives of Armenia and Turkey discussed technical details of resuming the route and opening the border.
The project is part of the Armenian government’s “Crossroads of Peace” initiative, presented in October 2023. According to the ministry, it will take about a year to restore the Armenian section from Gyumri to Akhurik and will require funding of $32.4 million, according to USAID estimates.
The resumption of the line will allow Armenia to connect to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) and create an alternative to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route, the reconstruction of which was completed in Georgia in May 2024.