Turkey carves out plan to produce train wheels

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation and the Turkish State Railways sign a protocol to produce wheels for trains, which are all currently imported. Hürriyet photo

The state-owned Machinery and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) is preparing to domestically produce wheels for trains, in a bid to lower the $100 million currently spent on imports every year.

MKE and the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) yesterday signed a protocol for the production of monobloc wheels for trains. The MKE, which is based in the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, will produce 12,500 monobloc wheels and 4,000 wheel sets every year for the TCDD, according to the protocol.
Works regarding a tender for the “Monobloc Wheels and Wheel Sets Project” are in progress, MKE’s Heavy Weapon and Steel Plant General Manager Faruk Yenal told Anatolia news agency. The tender is planned to be opened next year, he noted. “The material and the process of the wheels will be made in Turkey. These wheels will be used for TCDD’s fast trains and rolling stocks,” Yenal said.

Wheels for rail systems operated by municipalities will also be produced as part of the project, he added. The total cost of the project is nearly 350 million Turkish Liras, and production is planned to start in 2017, he also said.