Discussions about deblocking of regional transportation infrastructure took me back to the late Soviet era. Those were the days when trains were the most preferred form of transportation for many of our citizens.
It was in 1986 when I took the Tbilisi-Yerevan train from Ayrum station, arrived in Yerevan, and in the evening took another train heading to the south the country, where in the city of Kapan I was going to participate in the long-distance running competition of Soviet Armenia.
I was a regular passenger of Tbilisi-Yerevan train, which I was using to go and see the Ararat soccer team’s games at Hrazdan national stadium, while traveling to Kapan by train was new for me. Today, Tbilisi-Yerevan train is the only one that functions after the collapse of the Soviet Union and to this day. The other trains have been cancelled during and after the wars in Karabakh and Abkhazia in early 1990-ies.
The train from Yerevan to Kapan would go through Nakhijevan along Arax river, enter Soviet Armenia through the region of Meghri, continue its route through Zangelan (Soviet Azerbaijan) and reach Kapan curving into Armenia again. It was the first time when I saw river Arax from the window of the train. I do remember Soviet border guards entering the train to check our documents. After the running competition I returned to Yerevan and then Ayrum using the same train route.
Yerevan-Kapan train stopped operating in February 1992. This was also the time when the train from Baku to Yerevan was shut down. The latter was the most important means of transportation, which would carry over 80% of our produce to outside markets. It was also the train which would connect Armenia with Russia, as well as the other Soviet Republics.
I used the Yerevan-Baku train for the first time December 29 of 1987, when I was drafted to in the Soviet military. The train which would leave Yerevan in the evening, would reach Baku the next day in the afternoon. I used this train at least twice again during my military service.
In mid 1989, when it became dangerous for ethnic Armenians to stay in Baku even as a soldier of Soviet Army, together with a couple of other Armenian nationals I was transferred to the Stavropol region of Russia by Baku-Derbent train.
During the Soviet period, while Armenia was using the Yerevan-Baku-Makhachkala train for cargo transportation, regular passengers would have to take Yerevan-Moscow and Yerevan-Rostov trains through the territory of Georgia and Abkhazia.
Ijevan-Baku route was another train connecting Armenia with Azerbaijan, which started operating during the last decades of the Soviet Union. I used this train twice. While I was a serviceman in the military, I promised 3 bottles of Armenian cognac to my superior – Major Aliyev, if he would allow me to go home and watch the opening of the European football championship. This Azerbaijani military doctor and his wife were originally from Armenia’s region of Kalinino (Tashir), hence they both spoke Armenian. We were from Armenia regardless of our ethnic origin. This train, which connected Baku with the city of Ijevan had only one stop in Armenia and it was Ijevan, while all the other train stations were in the territory of Azerbaijan.
Last but not least, Soviet Armenia also had a railroad connection with Iran. From the town of Julfa in Nakhijevan one railway was built to connect with the Iranian city of Jolfa and continue to Tabriz and Tehran. During the great Armenian repatriation in 1940-ies, Armenian-Iranians also used this railroad to reach Soviet Armenia.
During the Soviet days there were also domestic train rail projects in Armenia. One of those was the railroad between the cities of Ijevan and Hrazdan, which eventually would connect Yerevan and Baku. This project remained unfinished as the Soviet Union collapsed. However, one can see several bridges and parts of the train route between Dilijan and Ijevan to this day.
The railroad in Abkhazia was shut down in August 1992, when the war began between Georgia and Abkhazia. Armenians who could afford it, would take this train for summer vacations at the Black sea resort towns of Sukhumi, Gagra and Sochi. I have used this train once, as a member of Noyemberyan’s soccer team in 1990. We took this train to reach Crimean city of Yevpatoria for training.
Back in the day Armenia also had a railroad connection with Turkey. Gyumri-Kars railroad functioned during the Soviet era, while after Armenia became independent it was used for a short period of time, until the spring of 1993. This was the train which delivered grain from Europe to Armenia. The train was shut down by a Turkish government decision on April 2 of 1993, in solidarity to Azerbaijan and as a result of Armenian forces taking over Kalbajar district between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
I don’t know whether transportation infrastructure will become functional again, or if de-blockading of Armenia is going to be possible in the near future. I also don’t know if viable peace is to be expected soon!
Tatul Hakobyan, February 4, 2021
Translated by Arsen Kharatyan
