The countdown has begun for the journey with the National Electric Train. The trains produced in Sakarya will start to carry passengers this year. Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu said, “Currently, the maximum operating speed is 160 kilometers. It can reach this speed in 153 seconds. We are working to increase this to 225 kilometers. Electric trains will be able to operate on regional train lines.” said.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu announced that passenger transport will begin this year by the national electric train.
According to the news in Sabah, Karaismailoğlu reminded that the National Electric Train has traveled 10 thousand kilometers and said, “We will start carrying passengers this year. Currently the maximum operating speed is 160 kilometers. It can reach this speed in 153 seconds. We are working to increase this to 225 kilometers. Electric trains will be able to operate on regional train lines.
Making important statements, Karaismailoğlu made the following statements:
Recently, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has focused on railway investments. What is the situation with the current lines?
4 thousand 500 kilometers of railway construction continues. We will continue to increase this. Currently, work continues on high-speed train lines from Ankara-İzmir, Bursa-Ankara, Konya-Mersin to Gaziantep. We will also make the Third Bridge route. The route, which will reduce the journey between Istanbul and Ankara to 1.5 hours, will be built in 3 stages. When this is completed, it will travel 350 kilometers between Ankara and Istanbul. According to the 2053 Transport and Logistics Master Plan, we aim to increase the number of provinces with high-speed train connections from 8 to 52. This means that the number of passengers currently 19.5 million will increase to 350 million…
“TARGET 225 KILOMETER”
When will the National Electric Train start to carry passengers?
It has now traveled 10 kilometers. It is done at TÜRASAŞ in Sakarya. We will start carrying passengers this year. Currently the maximum operating speed is 160 kilometers. It can reach this speed in 153 seconds. We are working to increase this to 225 kilometers. Electric trains will be able to operate on regional train lines.
You said earlier that the Istanbul Airport metro would start in September. It's been delayed now. Why?
The airport metro is 37 kilometers. It is not so easy to make this line. 10 tunnel boring machines worked here. You cannot see so many tunnel machines working in a project in the world. There will even be domestic signaling. ASELSAN established the system. Now he will be able to sell his certificate to the world after getting his certificate on this line. There are 5 companies in the world doing this business. They are in a monopoly. We will have established the domestic signaling system. Apart from signaling, trains will also be domestic. Turkey is going somewhere else…
It is stated that the Russian airline will start flying to the TRNC on November 15. What is the situation here?
We told the Russians to write their official demands. They will send it to the General Directorate of Civil Aviation. Turkey will examine this.
“CHANNEL GOSPOSIT CANNOT BE INDUSTRED IN POLITICS”
At what stage is the Kanal Istanbul project?
Construction of the Sazlıdere Bridge in Kanal Istanbul started. Roads and train lines are being built. This is one of the most important projects in the world. It's a long-term job. Construction plans were made. The cost is slightly higher than the initial calculations… We calculated it to be 15 billion dollars, it will reach 20 billion dollars. We want to do this without burdening the general budget. The project will eventually come to life. This is a necessity. Currently, the world trade volume is 12 billion tons. The figure will increase to 2030 billion tons in 25. 90 percent of these cargoes are transported by sea. Currently, 40 thousand ships pass through the Bosphorus. If the number of ships increases to 60-70 thousand tomorrow, it will not be possible to pass through the Bosphorus. So what is going to happen? The Sea of Marmara turns into a ship dock.
Therefore, an alternative waterway needs to be planned. If not today, tomorrow, those who oppose it will understand the situation. We will build a logistics port in the eastern part of the canal, north of Istanbul Airport. Go look today, Ambarlı Port is no longer able to handle the density… Therefore, Kanal Istanbul is a technical issue, we are talking about a world vision. It is not an issue to be used as a tool for the politics of gossip… Also, when the ship traffic decreases, there will be the opportunity to organize many events. Many offers are coming in saying 'Let's do swimming and sailing races in the Bosphorus'. We cannot do any of them. I met with the fishermen the other day. A flock of fish was passing by in the middle of October… They also said that they wanted to fish in the Bosphorus that day, but they could not get on the boat due to the ship traffic. We will plan it. In mid-October, we plan to close the 'Fish Festival' on the day the fish migrate.
Is there an offer for the construction of Kanal Istanbul?
Offers are coming from infrastructure companies in many countries of the world such as the Netherlands, China, Russia, Denmark and Belgium. They say, "Let's do Kanal Istanbul".
“REVENUE WILL INCREASED TO $200 MILLION IN THE BOSPHORUS”
The fee charged from ships passing through the Bosphorus has also increased. Turkey has lost a lot of income in this regard…
According to the Montreux Convention, we will update the value of the “Golden Frank”, which is the basis for the fees related to the taxes and fees to be collected from the ships passing through the Turkish Straits without a call, as of 1 July every year. In 1983, a fixed exchange rate payment system was being implemented with a 75% discount. We were earning 40 million dollars a year from 30 thousand ships. The annual revenue of the Suez Canal is $5.6 billion. Now it will increase to about 200 million dollars per year in our country. This figure will increase every year.
“WE CAN REDUCE YAVUZ SULTAN SELİM”
What will be done in Build-Operate-Transfer projects when the operating rights are completed? I think the first project to expire is Yavuz Sultan Selim...
Build-Operate-Transfer projects are carried out without a penny from the state… After 2040, these will begin to pay off. 80 thousand vehicles passed the Osmangazi Bridge on the eve of the Feast of Sacrifice. Without this, half of those vehicles would not be able to make that trip. Ferry capacity could not exceed 25-30 thousand. In 2027, the operation period of Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge ends. After that date, it will pass to the state. If you ask my opinion, I will re-tender and build the roads in Siirt with the money there. I go out to the tender saying 'you collect the money, undertake the operating costs, give 80 percent to the state'. These are not calculated. The operating costs of the roads are also undertaken by the contractor companies. This means a serious cost…
The 10 billion-euro Istanbul Airport was built without taking a penny out of the state's pocket. I will collect 26 billion euros in revenue during the total operation period. Istanbul Airport has become a hub. Recently, Tbilisi Airport officials say, the busiest hours are between 2-4 at night. When I asked why, he said, “Because the planes stay and go to Istanbul, passengers fly to other countries from there.” In other words, the plans are made according to Istanbul Airport. There are problems at many airports in the world today. We completed an international airport with a capacity of 200 million passengers long before these problems started.
50 COMPANIES LEFT THE JOB BY LIQUIDATION DECISION
From time to time, there are complaints from highway companies that 'we can't get our money'...
Sometimes highway payments are late, but we ask companies to work harder. As such, the money we pay may be less than the job. But look, we did not close the construction site even during the troublesome period. We have 5 construction sites.
Has anyone benefited from the Liquidation Decree?
In 50 projects, the company left the business. We re-tendered those works, and we continue.
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