Starting from May 26, passenger trains on the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku route will resume operation. The agreement on the restoration of daily passenger transportation along the route was reached on May 18 in Baku during a meeting between the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze.
Medianews.az reminds that the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku passenger train service was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic period.
On March 31, 2020, a special quarantine regime was imposed in Azerbaijan due to the pandemic. Initially, there were strict restrictions. For example, wedding and funeral ceremonies were banned, leaving the house was subject to a permit system, on some days it was completely prohibited, travel between cities and districts was restricted, trade, public catering, cultural facilities, and public transport operated under strict control, the use of medical masks and vaccination requirements were introduced, educational institutions switched to distance learning...
As the epidemiological situation improved, restrictions were reduced and eased. For a long time now, the special quarantine regime in Azerbaijan consists of only one restriction: except for cargo transportation, entry and exit into the country by land transportation is prohibited.
The Cabinet of Ministers last decided to extend the special quarantine regime on March 16, 2026. The period should end on July 1.
Thus, at least until July 1, the special quarantine regime, that is, the ban on entry and exit by land transport except for cargo transportation, remains in force in Azerbaijan.
The resumption of passenger trains on the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku route is, in this regard, still the first and only exception.
The new coronavirus infection that emerged in China in December 2019 and spread worldwide was first recorded in Azerbaijan on February 28, 2020. According to the latest official report from March 2024, 835,144 people have been infected, and 10,428 have died.
On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization declared the pandemic over.
The Azerbaijani authorities do not deny that the special quarantine regime, or rather, the closure of the land borders, is not based solely on coronavirus concerns. It has also been stated at the head of state level that keeping the land borders closed is more related to security issues.