ArmInfo. On September 14, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Overchuk, who is on a visit to Armenia, visited the Lori region of Armenia, where he got acquainted with the results of restoration work on the railway infrastructure destroyed by the flood at the end of May of this year. He was accompanied on the trip by representatives of the management of the Russian Railways and South Caucasus Railway companies.
As reported by the press service of the South Caucasus Railway, Alexey Overchuk rode an electric train from Vanadzor to the Akhtala station, where the railway track was washed away in 6 places, and during the stop he got acquainted in detail with the technology and scope of restoration work.
This section of the railway is the only branch connecting the railway network of Armenia with the outside world. Since the restoration of traffic to the present, the South Caucasus Railway has transported 425 thousand tons of cargo. Specialists from the South Caucasus Railway, Russian Railways specialists and Georgian Railway specialists sent to Armenia worked on the restoration of the section.
During a limited time, a colossal amount of excavation work was carried out, kilometers of railway tracks, contact networks, communication systems and traction substations were restored. Until traffic was restored, a temporary scheme for delivering priority cargo to Armenia was established. More than 800 million drams were allocated by Russian Railways and South Caucasus Railways to eliminate the consequences of the destructive elements.
On May 25, as a result of prolonged precipitation followed by overflow and overflow of the Debed, Aghstev and Tashir rivers in two regions in the north of the Republic of Armenia, flooding of populated areas and damage to sections of roads occurred, and water supply to 16 populated areas was disrupted. A number of infrastructure facilities of the Armenian railways, managed by South Caucasus Railways CJSC, a subsidiary of Russian Railways OJSC, were damaged, including the washout of 1,800 m of track, the fall of 45 contact network supports, disruption of power supply from a number of traction substations, and damage to railway automation equipment. As a result of a landslide on the railway tracks, train traffic on the Ayrum-Sanain section has been stopped in domestic and the only international (with Georgia) traffic.