Türkiye’s first privately-operated worldwide freight practice started its inaugural journey on Friday, a big step ahead within the liberalization of the nation’s railways and boosting its place as a crucial logistics hub between Europe and Asia.
The new service is operated by Pacific Eurasia, a personal Turkish firm, which has dedicated to operating 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 practice will journey 1,549 kilometers (962.24 miles), crossing via Türkiye, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and is predicted to finish the journey in about 4 days.
That journey will embody 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 tasks over the previous 20 years.
Since 2003, Türkiye has prolonged its rail community by almost 3,000 kilometers, bringing the overall size to 13,919 kilometers.
Uraloğlu emphasised the federal government’s imaginative and prescient of railways as a strategic pillar of Türkiye’s future financial system, citing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway (BTK) as a key part 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 personal freight practice 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 diminished transportation instances for items touring from China to Europe.
“We believe this volume will increase much further in the coming period,” stated Uraloğlu.
As international commerce routes shift amid provide chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainties, Türkiye’s strategic location and increasing rail community are seen as a aggressive benefit.
In 2023 alone, over 9,000 practice journeys have been made between China and Europe, stated Uraloğlu, with Türkiye taking part in an more and more essential function as a transit nation.
Future ambitions
Türkiye’s plans for the railway sector prolong properly past the launch of its first personal worldwide freight practice.
By 2028, the federal government goals to broaden the rail community to 17,287 kilometers, and by 2053, it plans to succeed in 28,590 kilometers, stated Uraloğlu.
The bold enlargement plan contains upgrading current traces, constructing high-speed rail routes, and rising 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 specific, the federal government has excessive hopes for the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge rail line, an essential a part of the deliberate Development Road Project, a multibillion-dollar regional transportation challenge designed to ease the motion of products from Asia to Europe.
Unveiled final yr, the challenge 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 via an intensive community of railways and highways.
Uraloğlu reported sturdy worldwide curiosity from monetary establishments just like the World Bank, which is predicted to again the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge rail line challenge.
Construction on the brand new line is slated to start by early 2025, the minister famous.
Source: www.dailysabah.com