A tourism company or any intermediary cannot purchase and hold multiple tickets without knowing who they will sell them to in the future.
“Elchi” reports, citing Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY), that this was stated by Azer Farajov, Head of the Passenger Transportation Department at ADY, while clarifying claims on social media regarding the bulk purchase and resale of tickets for the Baku–Tbilisi–Baku route by intermediaries and tourism companies.
According to him, advertisements and posts circulating on social media, as well as sales statistics and passenger ticket purchasing behavior, are regularly monitored and analyzed: “A tourism company or any intermediary cannot purchase and hold multiple tickets without knowing who they will sell them to in the future. Because, as I mentioned, every ticket must be registered in the name of a specific passenger at the time of purchase, and it is not possible to transfer it to another person later or for tickets to be bought in advance and then sold to any person. In other words, the system does not allow the purchased ticket to be changed to another person’s name. A ticket can only be returned, and in that case, it is put back on open sale. The system being structured this way prevents abuse in ticket sales, especially the mass purchase and subsequent resale of tickets by any intermediaries or tourism companies.”
Azer Farajov noted that one of the claims on social media is that the Baku–Tbilisi trains are not full: “Let me also note one point: the train may not be completely full when departing from Baku, which is natural because not all passengers start their journey from Baku Railway Station. As is known, the Baku–Tbilisi–Baku trains also stop at Bilajari, Yevlakh, Ganja, Agstafa, and Boyuk Kasik stations, and passengers board the train from these stations as well. For example, between May 25 and June 22, 6,136 people traveled from Baku to Tbilisi, 909 from Yevlakh, 1,345 from Ganja, and 492 from Agstafa to Tbilisi. In the opposite direction, i.e., from Tbilisi to Baku, 5,592 people traveled, 1,048 to Ganja, 1,522 to Yevlakh, and 381 from Gardabani to Baku.
Since May 21, 2026, when tickets for the Baku–Tbilisi–Baku route were put on sale, a total of nearly 20,000 tickets have been purchased. Of these, approximately 5,000 tickets were sold at ticket offices.”