Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu announced that the total budget appropriation of the Ministry, General Directorate of Civil Aviation, General Directorate of Highways and Information Technologies and Communication Authority for 2021 is foreseen as approximately 71 billion TL.
Karaismailoğlu said, “The highway ranks first with a share of 61 percent in our investment expenditures,” and added, “We increased the share of railways in investments, which was 2013 percent in 33, to 2021 percent in 48. This rate will be 2023% in 63,4. It is extremely important for us that investments can be completed faster and offered to the service of our citizens. For this reason, we are also evaluating alternative financing sources. For this, we have mobilized the dynamism of the private sector. Thus, we started the Public-Private Cooperation project worth 301,7 billion TL in total. 82% of these investments have been completed. We aim to bring an additional 30,3 billion TL investment to our country with the Public Private Sector Cooperation projects that are under construction. There are 481 projects in our investment portfolio. The total size of these projects is 743 billion TL. In this, we achieved a cash realization of approximately 415 billion dollars”.
WE HAVE INVESTED A TOTAL OF 19 BILLION TL IN RAILWAYS IN THE LAST 220,7 YEARS
Providing information about railway investments, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu said:
“We have started a new breakthrough in the railways, which have been neglected for more than half a century, so that the opportunities provided by the geographical location of our country, which acts as a bridge between Asia and Europe, can turn into economic and commercial advantages. In order to provide multimodal transportation, our railways were handled with a new understanding. We connect our railways to ports and airports. With our projects, we make railway transportation not only on the east-west line, but also between our north-south coasts contributing to the economy. In the last 19 years, we have invested a total of 220,7 billion TL in railways. We introduced our country to YHT management. We built a thousand 213 kilometers of YHT line. We increased our railway network to 17 kilometers with an increase of 12 percent. 803 percent of our signaled lines to increase efficiency and safety in the railway; On the other hand, we increased our electric lines by 172 percent. Despite the epidemic in 180, there was no decline in domestic freight transport by rail. In addition, we foresee a significant increase in international transportation due to the 'contactless transportation' advantage.”
OUR GOAL TO CARRY LOADS ON OUR RAILWAYS FOR 2021, 36,11 MILLION TONS
Drawing attention to the Middle Corridor route that passes through Turkey and connects the Far East countries, especially China, to the European Continent, Karaismailoğlu said that with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line put into service, the possibility of using the 'Middle Corridor' effectively in the railway freight traffic between China and Europe. He said he was out.
Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu said, “It went down in history as the first freight train that went from China to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Iron Silk Road and reached Europe using Marmaray. The 11 thousand 483 kilometer China-Turkey track is completed in 12 days. In the following years, we are working to shift 5 percent of the annual 30 thousand block train to Europe via China-Russia (Siberia), which is designated as the northern line, to Turkey. We aim to operate 500 blocks of trains per year from the Middle Corridor and BTK route, and to reduce the total 12-day cruise time between China and Turkey to 10 days. Our target of transporting freight in our railways for 2021 is 36,11 million tons,” he said.
WE AIM TO INCREASE THE SHARE OF RAILWAYS IN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION TO 10 PERCENT
Underlining that they have reached 4 percent of the country's population with YHT transportation in "13 provinces in 44 destinations", Karaismailoğlu said that the total number of journeys has exceeded 58,6 million. Emphasizing that with the railway mobilization started after 2003, they built a total of 213 thousand 2 kilometers of new lines, 115 kilometers of which are YHT, and today they operate on a 12 thousand 803 kilometer railway network, Karaismailoğlu continued his speech as follows:
“We are the ones who embraced the vision of the Republic of 'weaving our homeland with iron nets'. Within the scope of the Transport and Logistics Master Plan studies, we aim to increase the share of railways in freight transportation from 5 percent to 10 percent in the first place. In addition, we are working to reduce transportation costs. The most important component of our railway move is to develop our high-speed train network, where freight and passenger transport can be carried out economically and quickly. In this context, 4 thousand 364 kilometers of the line, which is under construction, consists of 4 thousand 7 kilometers of high-speed trains and 357 kilometers of conventional lines. We prioritize our projects in line with our Transportation and Logistics Master Plan projections and continue our work without interruption. Of these lines, we have achieved 95 percent physical progress in the infrastructure construction works of the Ankara-Sivas YHT line. We started loading tests in Balıseyh-Yerköy-Sivas section. When the project is completed, the rail travel time between Ankara and Sivas will decrease from 12 hours to 2 hours. Another important project is the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train line. We made 47 percent physical progress in infrastructure works. We will reduce the rail travel time between Ankara and İzmir from 14 hours to 3,5 hours. When finished, we aim to transport approximately 525 million passengers and 13,5 million tons of cargo per year over a distance of 90 kilometers. Halkalı-The Kapikule High Speed Train Project constitutes one of the most important links that form the European connection of the part of the Silk Railway route passing through our country. With the project; Halkalı- The passenger travel time between Kapikule (Edirne) will be increased from 4 hours to 1 hour and 20 minutes; We aim to reduce the load carrying time from 6,5 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes.”
Expressing that the project consists of three sections, Karaismailoğlu said that the 229-kilometer Halkalı-The first phase of the Kapıkule project, 153 kilometers long ÇerkezköyHe said that they started the construction of the Kapikule section and achieved 48 percent physical progress. “The 67 kilometer Ispartakule-Çerkezköy The tender process continues in the sector; 9 kilometers Halkalı-We have started the construction works in the Ispartakule section," said Minister of Transport, Karaismailoğlu, and noted that they have achieved 82 percent progress in the infrastructure works of the Bursa-Yenişehir-Osmaneli high-speed train line. Underlining that they have started the superstructure construction of the 106-kilometer Bursa-Yenişehir-Osmaneli high-speed train line in connection with the Ankara-Istanbul YHT line, Karaismailoğlu pointed out that when the project is completed, both Ankara-Bursa and Bursa-Istanbul will be approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. Karaismailoğlu, stating that they are doing the final tests between Konya and Karaman, announced that they will open the line for operation soon.
WE ARE INCREASE THE PASSENGER AND LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY OF OUR RAILWAYS
Karaismailoğlu stated that they achieved 83 percent physical progress in the infrastructure construction works between Karaman and Ulukışla, and made the following assessments:
“With the opening of the line, the distance between Konya and Adana, which is about 6 hours, will decrease to 2 hours and 20 minutes. We will complete the Aksaray-Ulukışla-Yenice High Speed Train Project, with a total length of 192 kilometers, through external financing. Thus, the capacity needed in the north-south axis of our main freight corridor will be provided. Our feverish work continues on our high-speed train line from Mersin to Gaziantep. Our construction work in the project, which has a length of 312 kilometers, proceeds in 6 sections. With our project, which is planned to be completed in 2024, the travel time between Adana and Gaziantep will decrease from 6,5 hours to 2 hours and 15 minutes. Adapazarı-Gebze-YSS Bridge-Istanbul Airport- Halkalı We also place great emphasis on our High Speed Train Project. Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, which has more than one critical economic value for Turkey, will once again integrate the two continents with railway transportation. With our Yerköy-Kayseri High Speed Train Line, we include 1,5 million citizens of Kayseri on the YHT line. Kayseri, one of the important trade centers of Central Anatolia, will get its share from the YHT mobilization. In addition to our high-speed train lines, we continue to work on improvement in our conventional lines as well. In this way, we increase the passenger and cargo carrying capacity of our railways. Our study project studies continue on the routes we have determined by taking into account the railway freight and passenger density. We have completed the survey project works of a total of 3 thousand 957 kilometers.”
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