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Georgia Transportation and Telecommunications
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Figure 15. Transportation System of Georgia, 1994
Georgia's location makes it an important commercial transit
route, and the country inherited a well-developed transportation
system when it became independent in 1991. However, lack of money
and political unrest have cut into the system's maintenance and
allowed it to deteriorate somewhat since independence. Fighting
in and around the secessionist Abkhazian Autonomous Republic in
the northwest has isolated that area and also has cut some of the
principal rail and highway links between Georgia and Russia.
In 1990 Georgia had 35,100 kilometers of roads, 31,200
kilometers of which were paved
(see
fig. 15). Since the
nineteenth century, Tbilisi has been the center of the Caucasus
region's highway system, a position reinforced during the Soviet
era. The country's four principal highways radiate from Tbilisi
roughly in the four cardinal directions. Route M27 extends west
from the capital through the broad valley between the country's
two main mountain ranges and reaches the Black Sea south of
Sukhumi. The highway then turns northwest along the Black Sea to
the Russian border. A secondary road, Route A305, branches off
Route M27 and carries traffic to the port of Poti. Another
secondary road runs south along the Black Sea coast from Poti to
the port of Batumi. From Batumi a short spur of about ten
kilometers is Georgia's only paved connection with Turkey.
Route A301, more commonly known as the Georgian Military
Highway, runs north for almost 200 kilometers from Tbilisi across
the Greater Caucasus range to Russia. The route was first
described by Greek geographers in the first century B.C. and was
the only land route north into Russia until the late 1800s. The
route contains many hairpin turns and winds through several
passes higher than 2,000 meters in elevation before reaching the
Russian border. Heavy snows in winter often close the road for
short periods. The country's other two main highways connect
Tbilisi with the neighboring Transcaucasian countries. Route A310
runs south to Erevan, and Route A302 extends east across a lower
portion of the Greater Caucasus range to Azerbaijan. All major
routes have regular and frequent bus transport.
Georgia had 1,421 kilometers of rail lines in 1993, excluding
several small industrial lines. In the early 1990s, most lines
were 1.520-meter broad gauge, and the principal routes were
electrified. The tsarist government built the first rail links in
the region from Baku on the Caspian Sea through Tbilisi to Poti
on the Black Sea in 1883; this route remains the principal rail
route of Transcaucasia. Along the Black Sea, a rail route extends
from the main east-west line into Russia, and two lines run south
from Tbilisi--one to Armenia and the other to Azerbaijan. Spurs
link these main routes with smaller towns in Georgia's broad
central valley. Principal classification yards and rail repair
services are in Batumi and Tbilisi. Most rail lines provide
passenger service, but in 1994 international passenger service
was limited to the Tbilisi-to-Baku train. Because of fighting in
Abkhazia, freight and passenger service to Russia has been
suspended, with only the section from Tbilisi to the port of Poti
still operative. Service on the Tbilisi-to-Erevan line has also
been disrupted because the tracks pass through the area of armed
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Tbilisi was one of the first cities of the Soviet Union to
have a subway system. The system consists of twenty-three
kilometers of heavy rail lines, most of which are underground.
Three lines with twenty stations radiate from downtown, with
extensions either planned or under construction in 1994. The
system is heavily used, and trains run at least every four
minutes throughout the day. In 1985, the last year of available
statistics, 145 million passengers were carried, about the same
number of passengers that used Washington's Metrorail system in
1992.
Georgia's principal airport, Novoalekseyevka, is about
eighteen kilometers northeast of downtown Tbilisi. With a runway
approximately 2,500 meters long, the airport can accommodate
airplanes as large as the Russian Tu-154, the Boeing 727, and the
McDonnell Douglas DC-9. In 1993 the airport handled about 26,000
tons of freight. Orbis, the new state-run airline, provides
service to neighboring countries, flights to several destinations
throughout Russia, and direct service to some European capitals.
Between 1991 and 1993, fuel shortages severely curtailed air
passenger and cargo service, however. Eighteen other airports
throughout the country have paved runways, but most are used for
minor freight transport.
Georgia's Black Sea ports provide access to the Mediterranean
Sea via the Bosporus. Georgia has two principal ports, at Poti
and Batumi, and a minor port at Sukhumi. Although Batumi has a
natural harbor, Poti's man-made harbor carries more cargo because
of that city's rail links to Tbilisi. The port at Poti can handle
ships having up to ten meters draught and 30,000 tons in weight.
Altogether, nine berths can process as much as 100,000 tons of
general cargo, 4 million tons of bulk cargo, and 1 million tons
of grain per year. Facilities include tugboats, equipment for
unloading tankers, a grain elevator, 22,000 square meters of
covered storage area, and 57,000 square meters of open storage
area. Direct onloading of containers to rail cars is available.
The port primarily handles exports of grain, coal, and ores and
imports of general cargo. Poti is ice-free, but in winter strong
west winds can make entry into the port hazardous.
Batumi's natural port is located on a bay just northeast of
the city. Eight alongside berths have a total capacity of 100,000
tons of general cargo, 800,000 tons of bulk cargo, and 6 million
tons of petroleum products. Facilities include portal cranes,
loaders for moving containers onto rail cars, 5,400 square meters
of covered storage, and 13,700 square meters of open storage. The
port lies at the end of the Transcaucasian pipeline from Baku and
is used primarily for the export of petroleum and petroleum
products. The port's location provides some protection from the
winds that buffet Poti. However, strong winds can cause dangerous
currents in the port area, forcing ships to remain offshore until
conditions improve.
Sukhumi, capital of the Abkhazian Autonomous Republic, is a
small port that handles limited amounts of cargo, passenger
ferries, and cruise ships. Imports consist mostly of building
materials, and the port handles exports of local agricultural
products, mostly fruit. Strong westerly and southwesterly winds
make the port virtually unusable for long periods in the autumn
and winter. Sukhumi has been unavailable to Georgia since
Georgian forces abandoned the city during the conflict of the
autumn of 1993.
In 1992 Georgia had 370 kilometers of crude oil pipeline, 300
kilometers of pipeline for refined petroleum products, and 440
kilometers of natural gas pipeline. Batumi is the terminus of a
major oil pipeline that transports petroleum from Baku across the
Caucasus for export. Two natural gas pipelines roughly parallel
the route of the oil pipeline from Baku to Tbilisi before veering
north along the Georgian Military Highway to Russia. Pipelines
are generally high-capacity lines and have a diameter of either
1,020 or 1,220 millimeters.
Historically, Georgia was an important point on the Silk Road
linking China with Europe. Since independence Georgians have
discussed resuming this role by turning the republic into a
modern transportation and communications hub. Such a plan might
also make the republic a "dry Suez" for the transshipment of
Iranian oil west across the Caucasus.
In 1991 about 672,000 telephone lines were in use, providing
twelve lines per 100 persons. The waiting list for telephone
installation was quite long in the early 1990s. Georgia is linked
to the CIS countries and Turkey by overland lines, and one lowcapacity satellite earth station is in operation. Three
television stations, including the independent Iberia Television,
and numerous radio stations broadcast in Georgian and Russian.
Data as of March 1994
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