TURKEY: Electric services have been launched over the entire 352 km length of the Ankara – Kayseri main line, after infrastructure manager TCDD completed wiring work between Nenek and Şefaatli,
Closing the final gap enables electric trains to run directly from Turkey’s three main cities of Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara to both Adana and Malatya via Kayseri.
The Nenek – Şefaatli electrification was undertaken for TCDD by a consortium of Ultra Teknoloji and Emreray Insaat Enerji under a TL69m contract signed in 2019. The work included the installation of 372 km of overhead catenary and 118 km of power cables, plus the construction of six substations.
The project covered both the main line and a branch to the Tupras oil refinery at Kirikkale. Ready for energisation of the branch, Tupras logistics subsidiary Körfez Ulaştırma took delivery of two Stadler EuroDual electro-diesel locomotives in September; delivery of a further five is expected to be completed this month.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on December 10, Minister for Transport & Communications Adil Karaismailoğlu said 45% of the country’s 12 803 route-km rail network had now been electrified, and the proportion of existing conventional lines would reach 50% by the end of 2023.
The minister added that TCDD planned to electrify 294 km of connecting lines and sidings serving 38 ports, logistics centres and industrial zones, and to connect 34 factory sites to its main network. Signalling will be expanded to cover 90% of the network, up from 65% currently.
Electrification of the existing main line between Ankara and Yerköy has been completed separately from the Ankara – Sivas high speed rail project which parallels part of the route, before branching off east on a newly constructed alignment. Karaismailoğlu did not give an anticipated completion date for the long delayed high speed line, commenting only that 95% of infrastructure work had been completed and that testing had started on the Balıseyh – Yerköy – Sivas section.
Turning to other ongoing projects, he reported that work on the Konya – Karaman – Ulukışla route modernisation programme was close to completion; once completed this would reduce journey times from 6 h to 2 h 20 min.
Karaismailoğlu revealed that plans had been prepared for extension of the Ankara – Yerköy high speed line south to Kayseri, and for development of a high speed line linking Aksaray, Ulukışla, Mersin and Yenice. However, he did not say when either project would be implemented.
