Excavation work started for Izmir-Afyonkarahisar-Ankara High Speed Train Project Esme-Salihli Section T1 Tunnel.
Adil Karaismailoglu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, pointed out that they invested ₺13.6 billion in railways in 2020 alone, and stated that they made the railways a state policy during their governments.
Karaismailoglu attended the Izmir-Afyonkarahisar-Ankara High Speed Train Project Esme-Salihli Section T1 Tunnel Excavation Start Ceremony in the Esme district of Usak.
In his speech, Minister Karaismailoglu said that Turkey has made a great breakthrough in every field in the last 19 years under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Noting that transportation and communication are also seen as the driving force of the growing economy in this process, Karaismailoglu stated that cities have gained economic and social vitality, and Turkey has strengthened its connections with the world “in every mode”.
Minister Karaismailoglu pointed out that huge investments have been made in the field of railways, which is an efficient, fast and comfortable alternative in every age, and said, “In the last 19 years, we have transferred 19% of the 1 trillion budget we have allocated for transportation and communication investments in our country.”
Karaismailoglu, who pointed out that the railway was given importance during the establishment of the Republic, and that only 945 kilometers of new railway line was built between 1950 and 2003, continued as follows:
“We increased our railway line length to 12 thousand 803 kilometers. We increased the railways investment rate, which was 33% in 2013, to 47% in 2020, and we invested ₺13.6 billion in railways in 2020 alone. Just last year, we manufactured 8 thousand 664 meters of tunnels, 5 thousand 214 meters of viaducts, and one thousand 213 meters of junction lines on railways. We have made the railways a state policy again. We started the Railway Reform.”
High speed train projects
Karaismailoglu emphasized that it was the AK Party government’s duty to realize the high-speed train dream that the people longed for half a century under the name of speed railway, and stated that Turkey became the eighth high-speed train operator in the world and the sixth in Europe.
Noting that the Ankara-Konya and Ankara-Istanbul YHT lines, which were put into service after the Ankara-Eskisehir line, made the high-speed train service an indispensable transportation service for the public, Karaismalioglu said, “So far, about 60 million passengers have been transported on our YHT lines.”
Minister stated that they implemented very important big projects in terms of high speed trains, and added saying, “Our construction works are continuing on the high speed train line of 3 thousand 515 kilometers, including Ankara-Sivas, Ankara-Izmir, Bursa-Yenisehir-Osmaneli, Konya-Karaman-Ulukisla, Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye-Gaziantep, Kapikule-Cerkezkoy high speed train line.”
Expressing that they are approaching the end on the Ankara-Sivas line, Karaismailoglu reported that they even made the final tests.
He stated that they will put the Ankara-Sivas YHT line into service the citizens as of June and gave the following information:
“We are continuing our work quickly and successfully on our Ankara-Izmir high-speed train line. The length of the Ankara-Izmir High Speed Line, which will reduce the travel time between Ankara-Izmir to 3 hours 30 minutes when completed, is 624 kilometers. Within the scope of the project, 49 tunnels with a length of 41 kilometers will be opened and 56 viaducts with a length of 23.1 kilometers will be constructed. In total, 115.8 million cubic meters of excavation and 47.9 million cubic meters of filling will be made. We have completed the infrastructure works 42.43% so far. We opened 14 tunnels with a length of 12,800 meters. We built 18 viaducts with a length of 10 thousand 150 meters. We made 66 million cubic meters of excavation and 47.9 million cubic meters of filling.”
A wider railway tunnel than the Eurasia Tunnel will be opened
Minister Karaismailoglu, expressing that they are happy to start the excavation of the 3 thousand 47 meters long T1 Tunnel, which is the longest tunnel of the Esme-Salihli Section of the Ankara-Izmir High Speed line, said the following, “We are making another first, we are opening a wider railway tunnel than the 13.70 m wide Eurasia Tunnel. We will open this tunnel using Turkey’s largest diameter TBM machine with an excavation diameter of 13.77 meters and an inner diameter of 12.5 meters. Thanks to this method used, for the first time in Turkey, we will build the main tunnel to be used by the high-speed train and the security tunnel to be used in pedestrian, ambulance and maintenance services in the same tube.”
Stating that they built two floors in a single tunnel, Karaismailoglu stated that they will gain both time and cost.
He stated that they aim to complete both the main tunnel and the security tunnel in 12 months.
Divided road length exceeded 28,200 kilometers
Emphasizing that they have completed projects quickly and securely using the most advanced technologies in the world, they have become a technology exporter, Minister noted that they are working day and night to serve the nation and the state.
Karaismailoglu stated that they increased the length of the divided road from 6 thousand kilometers to over 28 thousand 200 kilometers, and continued as follows:
“While only 6 provinces are connected to each other by a divided road, we connected 77 provinces to each other through a divided road. We introduced Turkey to high-speed train. With Istanbul Airport, we made our country one of the central bases of global aviation. Our THY has become one of the most valuable brands in the world. By building the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, we made the Iron Silk Road from London to Beijing come to life. Our export trains travel one after another from China to Russia. We have completed many giant prestige transportation projects such as Marmaray, Eurasia Tunnel, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Osmangazi Bridge, Istanbul-Izmir, Ankara Nigde and Northern Marmara highways, the project of the century, and put it into the service of our people. We continue with the 1915 Canakkale Bridge, Cukurova and Rize–Artvin Airports, Ankara-Sivas, Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye-Gaziantep and Ankara-Izmir High Speed Train lines.”
Karaismailoglu, who stated that they will continue to work day and night to make it a superpower in the Turkey region, said, “We sent our 5A satellite to space at the beginning of the year. We are currently counting days for 5B. On the other hand, we are carrying out the assembly of our 6A satellite.”
Usak Mayor Mehmet Cakin stated that thanks to the high-speed train project, the recognition of the region will increase.
AK Party Usak Deputy Ismail Gunes stated that Usak and Esmali wanted the high-speed train works to be completed as soon as possible and they were very happy that the works started.
Speaking at the ceremony, other AK Party Usak Deputy Mehmet Altay said that the city’s fortune will change with the tunnel.
After the speeches, Minister Karaismailoglu, members of parliament and protocol members started the excavation by pressing the button.
Minister Karaismailoglu inspected the area where the excavation started and took pictures with the excavation team.
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz