Turkish State Railways (TCDD) has signed a contract for ten Velaro high-speed trains with Siemens, which submitted the most favorable bid in the tender. The contract is worth around EUR 340 million and also includes maintenance, repair and cleaning of the trains for a period of three years. With this contract, the Turkish Velaro fleet will grow to 17 trains.
“Our Velaro family is continuing to grow and write new chapters in its unique success story. With its capacity and comfort, the Velaro remains a benchmark for high-speed trains. In Turkey, the train can fully utilize all its strengths and is already proving this in daily operation. Our flagship is running here with 99-percent availability,” said Sabrina Soussan, CEO of the Mobility Division.
When the tender process concluded in May 2013, TCDD procured from Siemens a Velaro D high-speed train-set. For this purpose, a Velaro was taken from the production line and refitted for operation in Turkey. This train entered passenger service between Ankara and Konya in May 2015. At the same time, TCDD signed a second contract with Siemens, again the winning bidder of the tender process, for six eight-car high-speed trains. The seven trains connect Ankara with Konya and Eskişehir and have already covered over five million kilometers in passenger service.
The Siemens Velaro high-speed platform offers an optimized capacity profile and enhanced passenger experience. The Velaro trains were developed for the global market and are currently operating in Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Russia, China and Turkey, as well as, most recently, the Netherlands.
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