Local trains to be online in 2018, says Turkish transport minister

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

'We are planning to get the first trains online in 2018,'Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım said. AA Photo

Locally made trains will be on rails by 2018, said Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım yesterday.

“These trains will be produced in three factories of Turkey’s state railways (TCDD). We are planning to get the first trains online in 2018,” he said.

TÜLOMSAŞ, leading local locomotive maker, will produce high speed trains and TÜVASAŞ, leading wagon maker, will be responsible for producing electrical and diesel train sets, he said, adding that TÜDEMSAŞ, Turkish Railway Machines Industry, would produce developed wagons with the contribution of Istanbul Technical University, local defense firm Aselsan and 153 other companies, Yıldırım said.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) will also be responsible for R&D activities.

“This is entirely a national project,” Yıldırım said.

“A total of 1,856 people will work for the project. Some 280 of them are scientists, 1,056 are engineers and the remaining 520 are technical and managerial professionals,” said Süleyman Karaman, general manager of TCDD, which will be the main holder of the project.

The first official meetings for the projects were held in October 2012, and four different working groups were then developed, said Karaman, including Local High Speed Train group, Local Electrical Train group, Diesel Train group, Local New Generation Wagon group.

“We began working on the project in 2012. We believe our first trains will be commercially available in 2018,” Yıldırım said, adding Turkey now needed some 100 high speed train sets after the completion of new railway routes.

“Such trains would be worth of around $3 billion. We’ll enable Turkey to be able to save over 70 percent of this amount by launching this national train project,” Yıldırım said.

Turkey has already been producing many parts and elements of train sets and railways, sector representatives said.

“We are talking about over $1 trillion worth of market in the region surrounding Turkey. And Turkey should be more than a consumer by becoming a producer step by step,” Yıldırım said, adding mainly local materials and technologies would be used.

“If there are any materials or technologies which are not locally available, we’ll import them. There is no problem with it. The point is here to become the main holder, main integrator of such projects,” he said.