2,500 km of railways to be built

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Turkey plans to build at least 2,500 km of high-speed rail line by 2018. DHA photo

Turkey will build at least 2,500 kilometers of high-speed rail line in the next five years to connect 14 cities, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım has said.

In framework of the draft of the tenth development plan, the central administration will allocate a considerable budget for the railroad transformation.

“We will construct at least 2,500 km high-speed rail line in the next five years. We will bring together 14 cities, with a total population of 37 million people,” Yıldırım said.

However, Yıldırım highlighted on June 18 that they attached importance to “investing in human,” at the closure meeting of the project for the National Professional Competence System, which is being applied in the EU countries.

A total of 18 professions were defined and standardized, as exam and evaluation centers were simultaneously established, said Süleyman Karaman, the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) general manager. Those exercising a railway profession in private or public sectors will obtain certificates via this new system, Karaman said. As the project, which cost 323,000 euros, is mostly funded by the European Union pre-accession funds, only 45,000 euros has been provided by the TCDD Association.

Meanwhile, a code on the liberalization of Turkish railways by allowing private sector operations and investments in state-dominated railways came into force in May. The code will permit public and private legal entities and firms to build their own railway infrastructure and operate them as well as to
manage trains on the national railway network.