Railways from Ottoman to Present

The Ottoman Empire gave importance to railway projects in spite of the economic difficulties brought by successive wars. Even projects such as Marmaray were also pronounced for the first time in this period. Although the railway projects continued in the first years of the Republic, it has been re-entered into development plans since 1960.

RAILWAYS FROM OTTOMAN TO TODAY

The fact that railway transportation in Europe and America, together with the developing and changing means of transportation, became a rising model was of great importance for the Ottoman Empire in terms of economic, political and military aspects.

For this purpose, the railway in the territory of the Ottoman Empire was first built as 1856 kilometers between İzmir and Aydın at the time of Sultan Abdülmecit. 130 year-long production line was completed during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz in 10.

In 1871, the construction of Haydarpaşa-Izmit line was started by the state with a will from the palace. The 91-kilometer line was finished in 1873. However, due to financial difficulties, the construction of Anatolian railways and Baghdad and Cenup railways were carried out with German capital.

9 MAIN LINE CONSTRUCTION

A British company also completed the 98-kilometer section of the Izmir-Turgutlu-Afyon line and the Manisa-Bandırma line in 1865. The construction privilege of Baron Hirsch was given to Baron Hirsch in 1896, and the 2-kilometer Istanbul Edirne and Kırklareli Alpulu sections within the national borders were completed in 336.

There are 1856 main railway lines built during the Ottoman State (1922-9).

These are as follows:

1. - Rumeli Railways (2383 km)
2. - Anatolian Railways (2424 km)
3. - İzmir-Town (695 km)
4. - Izmir - Aydin (610 km)
5. - Damascus-Hama (498 km)
6. Jaffa-Jerusalem (86 km)
7. - Bursa-Mudanya (42 km)
8. - Ankara-Yahşihan (80 km)
   - Total 8.619 km

PRIVILEGES CREATE IMPACT AREAS

British, French and Germans, who were granted railway privileges in the Ottoman state, had their own influence areas. France; In Northern Greece, West and South Anatolia and Syria, England; Germany, Romania, Western Anatolia, Iraq and the Persian Gulf; It created influence areas in Thrace, Central Anatolia and Mesopotamia.

Western capitalists built the railroad, which is a very important and strategic transportation route with industrial revolution, to transport agricultural products and important mines, which are the raw materials of textile industry, to the ports in the fastest way and then to their countries.

THE LARGEST PROJECT OF THE OTTOMAN: HICAZ RAILWAY

The most important railway project of the Ottoman Empire was the Hijaz Railway, the railway network extending from Damascus to Medina.

As a continuation of the Baghdad Railway, the construction of which was initiated by Sultan Abdulhamid II on May 2, 2, Hicaz Railway was put into operation on 1900 September 1 with an official ceremony.

31 The Hicaz Railway, which reached the 1908 in 1464 August 1919, has passed 1900 kilometers in total until the XNUMX year in which the Hejaz left the Ottoman Empire.

The start of the project dates back to 1891. With the project envisaged by Sultan Abdulhamid II, it was aimed to reduce the distance between Istanbul and Mecca to 2 hours.
One of the most important features that distinguished the Hejaz railway from other projects was that all expenses were provided by internal resources. The project, whose estimated cost was determined as 4 million lira, corresponded to 1901 percent of the state budget in 18.

ALL WORLD MUSLIMS DONATED

However, the Hejaz Railway was a very big and difficult project according to the conditions of the period in which it was built. Due to the high cost of the Hejaz railway construction and the financial difficulties experienced by the Ottoman Empire, an aid campaign was initiated for the construction of the line. First aid personally, Sultan II. Abdulhamit made it and donated 50 thousand liras. State officials and officials followed the Sultan.

Mainly in India and Egypt; Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Russia, China, Singapore, Netherlands, South Africa, Cape of Good Hope, Javanese, Sudan, Pretoria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Skopje, Plovdiv, Constanta, Cyprus, Vienna, England, Germany and America donated to.

The 1908 million 1 collected in the 127 year of the construction of the line reached 893 pounds. This amount was the 29 of the total expenditures. 8 1 narrow track rails with 5 centimeter span were used for the laying of the hijaz railway line which was completed in a short time such as XNUMX year.

43 ENGINEER WORKED IN THE PROJECT

Since the railways, which are already available from Istanbul to Damascus, have been installed with wide span rails, Hijaz railway train wagons were preferred only between Damascus and Medina. Technical engineering of the railway was given to German engineer Meissner. He worked in the construction of 17 engineer line, 12 was Turkish, 5 was German, 5 was Italian, 2 was French, 1 was Austrian, 1 was from Belgium and 43 was from Rum.

1 On September 1906, the next construction of the line which reached Medâyin-i Sâlih was carried out by Muslim engineers. However, during the construction of the Hejaz railway, it was the scene of many suffering.

This railway, which provided great benefits for the Ottoman Empire and the region, was subjected to constant attacks and sabotages during and after construction. As a result of these attacks and sabotage to the railway line, many Ottoman soldiers were killed.

The Ottoman Empire struggled to prevent interruption in transportation.

In particular, the attacks started in World War I continued to rise until the fall of Medina.

MARMARAY IS THE DREAM OF ABDÜLMECİT

The first idea about a railway tunnel that will pass under the Bosphorus was brought up by Sultan Abdülmecit in 1860.

The project was planned as a tunnel placed on the columns built on the seabed. This idea was evaluated further in the following period and a design was developed in 1902. This design envisaged a railway tunnel under the Bosphorus, but a tunnel placed on the seabed was mentioned in the design. However, the project could not be realized because the empire was in a state of constant war. The project was brought to the agenda again in the 1980s, but in 2004 the contract for the project was signed and launched in October 2013.

RAILWAY POLICIES IN THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

The railway project launched in the first years of the Republic after the Ottoman Empire did not fully reach the targets imagined under the conditions of the period.

With the move to nationalize the railways, which started in 1923, new lines began to be built. The railway line, which was 1923 thousand 4 km as of 559 in the Anatolian lands, reached 1940 thousand 8 km with the works carried out until 637.

1932 and 1936 prepared in 1. and 2. five-year industrialization plans were given priority to basic industries such as iron-steel, coal and machinery. The steps taken have served the purpose of carrying loads rather than facilitating transportation.

PRODUCTION CENTERS HAVE BEEN CONNECTED TO THE PORTS

The railway that reached Ergani was called copper, the iron that reached the Ereğli coal basin, Adana and Çetinkaya lines were called cotton and iron lines. Relations between production and consumption centers, namely harbors and subregions, were established.
Ports reaching the railway with the Kalin-Samsun, Irmak-Zonguldak lines have been increased from 6 to 8. Samsun and Zonguldak lines have strengthened the sea connection of inner and eastern Anatolia. It was connected to Kayseri in 1927, Sivas in 1930, Malatya in 1931, Niğde in 1933, Elazig in 1934, Diyarbakır in 1935, and Erzurum in 1939.

1960'S PASSED THE GRAINS FOR YEARS

Between 1940 and 2000, the importance given to highway and automotive industry was not given to railway projects. Between 1960 and 1997, that is, in 37 years, the length of the rail increased by only 11 percent.

In terms of railways in Turkey between the years 1940-1950 "period of stagnation" has been called. Because the first World War, including the policies carried out in Turkey in 1940 was brought to a halt after the railway construction.

The 1923 km of the 1960 km railway constructed between 3.578-3.208 are the ones completed by 1940. After the War of Independence, an average of 240 km long railway was built annually.

1960'S SECOND PLANS IN YEARS

Despite the developing technology and financial facilities especially in the early 1960s, only 39 km of railway could be built annually. The main reason why the railways were thrown into the background during these dates was that the transportation policy of the state had changed. Between 1960 and 1997, rail length increased by 11 percent.

Investment shares in the transportation sectors; In the 1960s, highway was 50 percent and rail was 30 percent. The share of railways in passenger transport fell by 38 percent in these years due to the fact that the existing infrastructure and operating conditions were not improved and new corridors could not be opened. This resulted in a similar negative picture until the early 2000s.

RAILING SYSTEM IN 2000

In the 2000s, the rail system, as well as the highways, was given weight. Significant strides have been made both in the length of the railway, in its capacity and technology.

For years, the investment made in the last decade and hence significant investments in the length of railway lines can not reach the desired level of rail use was made in Turkey.

In the last 10 year, the total length of the line in the 2001 was 10 thousand 917 kilometers. According to the TCDD data, the number of 2001 million 7 thousand in 561 is 2010.

10 million 282 thousand of this number was domestic, and the 1 million 18 thousand was also international. At the end of 2001, this number was 14 thousand 618 tons, while 2010 was 24 tons in 355. The amount of international transport by rail between 2001-2009 has also increased around 154 on a tonne basis. 2001 900 2012 2,5 XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX XNUMX

2023 BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT UP TO 45

With the developments in the automotive industry and the increase in highways after the 1950s, rail transportation was somewhat secondary. However, the investment in railways in Turkey's 2023 targets and new projects, holds an important place. The investment to be made in railway projects by 2023 is expected to reach $ 45 billion.

Railways modernization and new railway projects, turned the attention of international investors in this field in Turkey. 2023 is planning to invest $ 1 billion in 45 railway projects.
According to the transport master plan strategy of 2023, when the railroad projects and logistics villages are completed, the passenger transport market share is expected to reach 15 percent and freight transport will reach 20 percent.

PRIORITY LINES ARE DETERMINED

Lines of investment priorities in the report of the State Railways of the Republic of Turkey 2023 strategy; Ankara-İstanbul, Tekirdağ-Muratlı, Arifiye-Çerkezköy, Ankara-Sivas, Ankara-Konya, Adapazari-Zonguldak, Zonguldak-Karadeniz Ereglisi, Ankara-Afyon, Isparta-Antalya, Trabzon-Tirebolu and Diyarbakir.

It was also noted that new ferries should be built for the Van lake pass. Another important issue in the report was that priority should be given to freight transport. It was also noted that there was a need for legal arrangements for the restructuring of the railway system.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION IN RAILWAYS

The need for locomotives and private freight wagons of state railways is TÜLOMSAŞ in Eskişehir; TUVASAŞ in Adapazarı; the need for a passenger car and diesel train set; TÜDEMSAŞ partnerships in Sivas meet the need for freight cars.
However, domestic production is not enough to meet half the demand. Staff training, R & D activities and speeding up investments should speed up activities to reverse this situation.