Tbilisi and Rustavi might be linked with tram or above ground metro
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, June 27
The capital of Georgia and Rustavi, a city in the southeastern Kvemo Kartli region situated 25 kilometers away from the capital, might be linked with a tram or an above ground metro.
The information was released by the head of Tbilisi Transport Service, Mamuka Mumladze, in his interview with the Kviris Palitra newspaper.
Mumladze says that nowadays, around 20,000 passengers travel from Tbilisi to Rustavi and back every day, adding that around 300 mini busses serve passengers daily. He believes that the project will alleviate the traffic in the capital.
“The development of the above ground metro or tram will be discussed only in case the project of the Tbilisi Bypass Railway will be implemented,” he said.
The head of the Tbilisi Transport Service says that such a project can be implemented if a section of railway can be relocated, which creates opportunities to arrange an above ground metro for this space.
“The transport hub can be arranged at the Samgori metro. Here the passengers will get out of the metro and will have the opportunity to get on high-speed transport to East Point, Lilo and to Rustavi,” he added.
In addition, the Tbilisi Transport service also made a comment about the city's fleet of mini-busses, and the Tbilisi Minibus company itself responded to passengers’ criticism over improper conditioning systems in Tbilisi's mini busses.
Passengers frequently complain about not operating air-conditioners in mini-busses, saying the drivers refuse to switch on the conditioners in order to save on fuel. Frequent users of mini-busses comment that not using air-conditioning system makes their life miserable while travelling in the vehicle.
The Tbilisi Minibus company says that the temperature in the capital is not very high and conditioners will be switched only if the temperature reaches 27-28 degrees.
However, according to the state weather forecast webpage meteo.gov.ge, the current average temperature in Tbilisi is 28 degrees and it is predicted to reach 32 degrees in the following days.
