Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu, who visited TCDD Combined Transport Transfer Station within the scope of Tekirdag program, stated that combined transportation has been among the priority issues of transportation policies recently. Stating that great efforts have been made for both harmonization with the EU acquis and creating a balanced, convenient and sustainable transport infrastructure in Turkey. Karaismailoglu said:
‘’ Undoubtedly, the establishment of an international and interregional integrated transportation network will be possible with the improvement and integration of the road, rail, sea and airway infrastructures. In this context, we have produced very important works by investing ₺ 910 billion in the transportation and communication infrastructure of our country in the last 18 years. We have invested all regions of Turkey.’’
Karaismailoglu stated that they worked for holistic development goals equal across regions connecting every corner of Turkey with each other and with the world. Underlining that Turkey is facing historical opportunities thanks to it’s location, situated in the heart of the Europe-Asia-Africa triangle focused on trade and economic growth, Karaismailoglu said:
‘’ We continue our work in strategic integrity in order to be ready for the advantages of this historical juncture and the new Silk Road. We have started a new breakthrough in railways neglected for more than half a century, as in all transportation modes of our country, which acts as a bridge between Asia and Europe. We have invested ₺ 169.2 billion in railways in 18 years. We built 1213 kilometres of YHT line and introduced YHT management to our country.
We increased our conventional lines by 6 percent to 11,590 kilometres. Thus, we increased our railway network by 17 percent to 12803 kilometres. By constructing Marmaray and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway lines, we turned our country into a centre of attraction. With these two giant projects, we have created the opportunity to use the Middle Corridor effectively in the railway freight traffic between China and Europe. ‘’
‘’We will further increase the load carrying capacity of the railways with block train applications.’’
Karaismailoglu noted that the first block transit container train between China and Europe, departing from Xi’an to Prague via the Middle Corridor, reached Ankara on November 6, 2019. Emphasizing that the train was the first freight train from China to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Iron Silk Road and reached Europe using Marmaray, Karaismailoglu said:
“Train, completed the China and Turkey course in 12 days and the total track of 11 thousand 483 kilometres in 18 days. In the following years we aim to shift the 30 percent of the annual 5 thousand block trains that is to Europe to Turkey via China-Russia (Siberia) specified as the northern line.
We will further increase the load carrying capacity of railway with block train applications. At this point, we started the transportation of truck bodies between Cerkezkoy and Catalca by rail In Kapikule, the road border crossing between Bulgaria and Turkey, in order to prevent the accumulation of road vehicles at border crossings, in 2018. We have completed the necessary arrangements with the investments made in Tekirdag and Omerli stations in order to increase exit points and to increase the share of railways in increasing export demands. We opened it to truck body transportation by rail. In the first place, we started regular train services between Omerli (Istanbul) and Tekirdag on October 8, 2020. ‘’
Karaismailoglu, stated that by using loading and unloading ramps installed at Omerli and Tekirdag stations. Truck body transportation between Turkey and Bulgaria started on 13 November. Karaismailoglu, stated that the amount of cargo between Tekirdag and Omerli stations was 40 thousand tons, and the amount of cargo coming and going from Tekirdag was 137.2 thousand tons, and said:
‘’ In the first place, approximately 40 thousand TEU and 25 thousand truck boxes will be transported from these stations to Europe. In addition, about 100 thousand TEU containers arriving and leaving the Asiaport Port are aimed to be transported by rail between Tekirdag and Omerli (Istanbul). Thanks to the opening of Marmaray to domestic freight trains and the start of truck body transportation by making arrangements at Tekirdagand Omerli stations, a significant amount of export cargo of Istanbul will be transferred from the highway to the railway. With the transportation of containers and trucks by rail, transportation costs of our exporters will decrease, and their competitiveness will increase.
€ 5 million of foreign currency input is expected annually as a result of transport of transit cargo passing through Turkey by rail. In the long term, it is planned to transport 2 million tons of railways from Tekirdag Train Station annually, thus making great contributions to the national economy and protection of the environment. ‘’
‘’ Turkey has the potential to be the most important and valuable logistics base of this region.’’
Karaismailoglu stated that the first domestic freight train from Gaziantep, carrying 1200 tons of plastic raw materials in containers, passed through Marmaray on May 8 and reached its destination Çorlu on May 9. Karaismailoglu pointed out that the cargoes, which were previously transported by the Derince-Tekirdag ferry, started to pass from Anatolia to Europe without interruption.
‘’ We continue to work on establishing inland container terminals, in other words logistics centres, which have effective connections to all modes in order to develop container transportation, which has the greatest potential in combined transportation. We will further strengthen the infrastructure of combined transport in our country. Turkey is a country that is the connecting centre of the east and the west thanks to its strategic location today and is at the heart of the goods movement towards Central Asia and the Caucasus. Thanks to this location, Turkey has the potential to be the most important and valuable logistics base of this region. We make investments to realize this potential in our country with the cooperation of public and private sectors. We are implementing new legal regulations within the framework of EU norms. The target of all our investments in transportation and communication is to make Turkey more powerful and richer. We will continue our projects that will be effective in terms of living in a developed country, increasing the quality of life, and increasing job opportunities. ‘’
Later, Karaismailoglu made observations at Asyaport Port, receiving information from Ahmet Soyuer, the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Minister Karaismailoglu was accompanied by Tekirdag Governor Aziz Yildirim and AK Party Tekirdag MPs Mustafa Yel and Çigdem Koncagul.
source: AA / translated by Melisa Karayusufoglu