Turkey to renew railways with two-way system
Posted by meb at August 13th, 2008
The Turkish State Railways (TCDD) has entered a new era in the country’s 100-year-old railway system by proceeding with a project to lay a second track next to the country’s current one-way railroad as part of efforts to retrofit the system.
The Ministry of Transportation decided to upgrade the country’s railway system, a project that has been postponed for many years, after observing the success of double lane highways in the country, which were constructed after the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in 2002. All new railways to be constructed will have two sets of tracks, as is the case with the Ankara-İstanbul and Ankara-Konya high-speed train tracks. The project also involves improving the current railway network by constructing a second railway track alongside current tracks. The TCDD plans to construct a second track on the 193-kilometer-long Ankara-Kayseri, Kayseri-Divriği, Kayseri-Ulukışla-Yenice and Konya-Karaman-Ulukışla tracks, which form the core of the freight business in Turkey. The project is expected to be completed in 10 years in three phases.
The first phase entails the maintenance and renewal of the current tracks. The second phase involves the electrification of the lines and an improvement of the signal system. The final phase will see the laying of an additional track. Once completed, the project is expected to double the freight transportation capacity.
The Ankara-Kayseri line currently serves 36 trains. This is expected to increase to 54 after the signal system of the track is complete. After the second track is added, the number of trains will jump to 252. This line alone shows the importance of the project in terms of freight transportation via railways. TCDD income is also expected to increase upon the project’s completion. The TCDD’s current annual income from freight transport is $80 million, while it is expected to reach $289 million with the new line. The electrification of the tracks is important because electric locomotives can carry more freight than their diesel counterparts.
The Ministry of Transportation has developed predictions for three, five and 10-year investment plans as part of the TCDD’s modernization project. If $8.3 billion are invested in the railway network, the TCDD will save $253 million over three years from personnel costs alone. Likewise, if the Ministry of Transportation invests $10.7 billion, the TCDD will save $410 million in personnel costs over five years. This figure would increase to $467 million over 10 years.
Benefits of this upgrade project would also be observed in revenue and expenditures. Once the project is complete, the revenue over expenditure ratio would increase from the current 32:100 to 111:100 in 10 years; staff productivity would increase by 992 percent, freight transportation would increase by 234 percent and passenger transportation would increase by 400 percent.
TCDD to profit by 2014
The TCDD will begin to see benefits of this retrofit project beginning in 2014, when it is expected to begin making a profit. The TCDD estimates that it will save $100 million with the renewal of the current railway tracks, $333 million after installing a better signal system — especially for cargo trains, $222 million upon electrifying the tracks and $289 million after the construction of a second track along the original track between Kayseri and Ankara. Additionally, the modernization of the old vehicle inventory will contribute to saving $167 million. Additionally, the upgrade will decrease maintenance costs, saving the TCDD another $60 million. Around $120 million will be saved from fuel costs.
source: Today’s Zaman
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