Türkiye’s first privately-operated worldwide freight prepare started its inaugural journey on Friday, a major step ahead within the liberalization of the nation’s railways and boosting its place as a vital logistics hub between Europe and Asia.
The new service is operated by Pacific Eurasia, a non-public Turkish firm, which has dedicated to working 600 trains yearly, carrying 750,000 tons of export items valued at roughly 600 million euros (about $651 million) – equal to the freight capability of twenty-two,000 vans.
During a ceremonial send-off at Halkalı station in Istanbul, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu highlighted the significance of the event in each worldwide commerce and Türkiye’s efforts to modernize its rail community.
“We are excited to see Pacific Eurasia become the first private operator of international rail freight,” Uraloğlu stated. “This route between Istanbul and Budapest will enhance our export capabilities and further cement Türkiye’s role as a bridge between Asia and Europe.”
The new freight prepare will journey 1,549 kilometers (962.24 miles), crossing by way of Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and is anticipated to finish the journey in about 4 days.
That journey will embrace 278 kilometers in Türkiye, 406 kilometers in Bulgaria, 634 kilometers in Romania and 231 kilometers in Hungary.
Rail liberalization and enlargement
Minister Uraloğlu pointed to the challenges confronted in liberalizing Türkiye’s railway sector, which for many years was dominated by state-owned operators.
He famous that Pacific Eurasia, now the nation’s third licensed rail operator, serves as a milestone within the nation’s rail improvement. The liberalization, Uraloğlu stated, is designed to advertise competitors and encourage funding in Türkiye’s railway sector.
The authorities has undertaken important rail enlargement initiatives over the previous twenty years.
Since 2003, Türkiye has prolonged its rail community by practically 3,000 kilometers, bringing the whole size to 13,919 kilometers.
Uraloğlu emphasised the federal government’s imaginative and prescient of railways as a strategic pillar of Türkiye’s future economic system, citing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway (BTK) as a key element of the Middle Corridor technique to hyperlink Asia and Europe.
“We are prioritizing railways as a state policy,” Uraloğlu stated. “Our vision is to create the shortest, safest, and most economical rail corridor between the two continents.”
Growing function of rail in commerce
The inauguration of the non-public freight prepare follows the profitable operation of the BTK, which connects Türkiye with Georgia, Azerbaijan and past into Central Asia and China.
Since its opening, over 1.5 million tons of cargo have been transported on the BTK line, which has drastically lowered transportation instances for items touring from China to Europe.
“We believe this volume will increase much further in the coming period,” stated Uraloğlu.
As world commerce routes shift amid provide chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties, Türkiye’s strategic location and increasing rail community are considered as a aggressive benefit.
In 2023 alone, over 9,000 prepare journeys have been made between China and Europe, stated Uraloğlu, with Türkiye enjoying an more and more necessary function as a transit nation.
Future ambitions
Türkiye’s plans for the railway sector prolong effectively past the launch of its first non-public worldwide freight prepare.
By 2028, the federal government goals to develop the rail community to 17,287 kilometers, and by 2053, it plans to achieve 28,590 kilometers, stated Uraloğlu.
The formidable enlargement plan contains upgrading present strains, constructing high-speed rail routes, and growing the share of freight transported by rail from 5% to 22%.
“Our goal is to raise the volume of goods transported by rail from 32 million tons today to 448 million tons,” Uraloğlu stated.
In explicit, the federal government has excessive hopes for the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge rail line, an necessary a part of the deliberate Development Road Project, a multibillion-dollar regional transportation mission designed to ease the motion of products from Asia to Europe.
Unveiled final yr, the mission is designed to facilitate the transport of products from the Gulf to Europe by way of the Grand Faw Port in Basra in southern Iraq. The port could be linked to Türkiye and subsequently to Europe by way of an intensive community of railways and highways.
Uraloğlu reported robust worldwide curiosity from monetary establishments just like the World Bank, which is anticipated to again the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge rail line mission.
Construction on the brand new line is slated to start by early 2025, the minister famous.
Source: www.dailysabah.com