Turkey is internationally renowned for the rapid development of its infrastructure and expects a GDP growth of 6.7% by 2018, estimates show. This country is thus crossing a very favourable period regarding the development of its railway transport system, as the authorities focus on policies and investments for railway projects. Aware of the important role of the transport system in the economic development of a city and of the whole country, the authorities have committed to invest USD 23 Billion by 2023 into railway projects. The tram line construction activity is intensely developed in the cities, as well as light metro and metro projects, investment programmes which generate economic growth and set up a sustainable mobility system that answers long-term requirements.
Urban transport problems resulting from the high mobility levels and the excessive use of individual vehicles are the major challenges of most urban areas worldwide.
While, in the past decades, the authorities have launched policies and strategies to restrict and manage the use of cars in the cities, mobility meets yet another deciding factor in choosing transport modes and delivery of performing services: increasing population and density levels which affect the development of journeys and the use of transport modes. Consequently, planning and implementing projects for the development of a sustainable and efficient transport, not only within cities, but also regionally and nationally, are important steps in solving traffic, environmental, social and economic problems.
For the authorities of each country, debates on sustainable development support the concept according to which creating a sustainable transport system becomes the most appropriate way of answering the challenges launched by the society. Therefore, certain planning approaches, such as intensifying urban development and transport corridors which encourage the use of public transport, promote and stimulate a behaviour that is favourable to public transport.
Turkey is one of the countries confronted with a demographic boost “estimated at 8.3% by 2020, which will pressure the development of urban infrastructure and will continue to offer new business opportunities in several economic sectors”, consultancy company Euromonitor International reports.
In this context, the authorities focus on developing transport strategies to answer mobility needs which record constant growth. Therefore, to develop a sustainable transport system, in 2012, Turkey launched a series of programmes for the development of railway passenger transport: high-speed projects, metro projects and tram projects are the priority of economic and social development strategies, and this is a fact. The many international companies which announced the signing of tram, metro and high-speed contracts stand proof. For example, contracts for the construction of a new tram line in Bursa have been signed; the tender for the acquisition of 60 tramways in the city of Konya has been launched; the contract for the development of Ankara-Afyonkarahisar, the first phase of the high-speed project Izmir-Ankara, was signed, as well as the contract for the extension of Ankara Metro.
The Ministry of Transport prioritizes the railway system compared to the other transport modes by setting high-speed line construction projects and projects for the modernisation of the already existing railways to deliver a performing transport capable to reshape the selection of transport modes.
“By 2020, Turkey wants to become one of the strongest economies in the world and the transport and communications system is the key to achieving this objective. Turkey’s system of high-speed lines ranks 6th in Europe and 8th in the world. And we will not stop here; we will continue our national network projects. Our goal is to have 10,000 km of high-speed lines by 2030”, declared Turkish Minister of Transport, BinaliYıldırım.
To persuade more passengers to choose railway transport, the authorities are willing to massively invest into the development of the railway transport system. To implement the railway development programme, the authorities plan to invest USD 23.5 Billion by 2023 and USD 45 Billion by 2035. Projects include the construction of 6,800 km of high-speed lines and 5,000 km of conventional lines by 2023.
By 2015, the first phase of the strategy on the high-speed network will be finalized and trains will run on the route Bursa- Afyon –Usak to Izmir, and in the east, from the new railway station in Ankara to Sivas and Erzincan. BosphorusMarmaray Project in Istanbul will be fully operational (the number of passengers carried being estimated at 1,2 million/day) and will link the country to the European railway network and Baku–Tbilisi–Kars section, delivering important connections for railway traffic on the Europe-Asia axis.
According to the national strategy on climate change, elaborated by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning, the development of a sustainable transport is the priority. “The transport sector has to be approached from two positions: first of all, it is necessary to develop the interurban railway transport system, then the national and international systems, and secondly, it is necessary to develop public urban transport”, the action plan states.
Urban transport plays an important role as regards greenhouse gas emissions, and, according to official data, Ankara and Istanbul are the first two cities to generate transport emissions. For Istanbul, road traffic CO2 emissions increased by 37% reaching 8.9 million tonnes/year from 6.5 million tonnes/year (1997-2007).
Istanbul and Ankara: two cities which reshape their choice in transport
Not only reducing emissions in these cities is a challenge for the authorities, but also congestion and imposed costs. Therefore, “traffic congestion in Istanbul generates a total cost of USD 2.7 Billion every year and the future of the city is strictly connected to the way in which the authorities develop public transport infrastructure to reduce road traffic congestion”, declared KasımKutlu, Head of İstanbul Transportation, Communication and Security Technologies. A poll conducted this year by the National Statistics Institute (TurkStat) reveals that 225 of 1,000 citizens use individual transport, a smaller percentage compared to European countries (450 of 1,000 citizens use individual transport). “This means that in commuter transport, 70% of those in need of mobility use public transport”, said Kutlu. In September, the Mayor of the city, KadirTopbaş, announced that necessary projects would be identified by 2016, as the city had first to finalize a series of railway projects under development.
The authorities are well aware of the fact that they have to implement projects to create a new mobility tendency and the solution to problems is the absolute necessity to develop rail transport.
Many cities in Turkey benefit from urban rail transport systems – light rail, tram, metro, so that it is necessary to build new lines. There are plans for Istanbul according to which there will be 118 km of new line by 2018 and 276 km by 2023. To answer the permanent growing mobility need in a city such as Istanbul with over 12 million citizens (statistics show an increase of up to 17 million), the new lines will be linked to Marmaray. Also, plans for rail transport development by 2023 include the construction of another 600 km of lines, plus the acquisition of around 3,000 railway vehicles.
Turkey’s capital, Ankara, has 3.5 million citizens in its metropolitan area whose mobility is delivered by the commuter railway system, light rail and metro systems. Currently, the authorities develop new railway projects included in the urban transport development strategy by 2015.
Thus, in 2012 the authorities signed the contract for the extension of the underground. The winner will build two new lines (Kizilay-Çayyolu-M2 and Batikent-Sinçan-M3) with a total length of 32 km of line served by 22 stations. The authorities are also initiating the project of M4 Tandoğan-Keçiören with a total length of 10 km and 9 stations. In 2011, the city adopted the decision on the construction of Line M5 Esenboga–Kizilay providing link to Esenboga Airport.
Aside from the urban projects, the construction of new high-speed lines was also launched in the summer of 2012. The authorities signed the contract for the construction of Ankara-Afyonkarahisar section, the first phase of the 624-km long high-speed project Izmir-Ankara. The project will include three phases and total costs are estimated at TRY 4 Billion (EUR 1.7 Billion).
For the development of transport and communications projects, the local press informs, Turkey will invest TRY 12 Billion (EUR 4.9 Billion). The largest share of TRY 4 Billion (EUR 1.6 Billion) will go to state-owned railway company TCDD for the implementation of railway projects.
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