TURKEY: The government has announced a 2024 rail programme which includes continued high levels of investment in both infrastructure and operations, and in the domestic design and manufacture of rail vehicles.
State railway infrastructure manager TCDD has been allocated TL49·4bn towards its portfolio of agreed capital expenditure which is valued at TL554·3bn under its current long-term funding agreement.
The 2024 allocations include:
- TL4·3bn for final works on the 433 km Ankara – Istanbul high speed line;
- TL6·1bn for civil works for the 498 km Ankara – Izmir high speed line, which is now due for completion in 2026;
- TL6·4bn for train control systems and related consultancy services for the 153 km Halkalı – Kapıküle high speed line;
- TL15·8bn for electrification, signalling and civil works covering 2 270 km of existing route.
This latter package covers numerous routes, including the 315 km line between Bandırma and Manısa, the 415 km between Manisa and Afyon, and a further 415 km between Irmak and Zonguldak. Enhancements are also planned for the Torbalı – Tire, Alayunt – Konya, Malatya – Elazığ, Tepeköy-Selçuk, Yolçatı – Diyarbakir – Kurtulan – Mazıdağ and Malatya – Elazığ routes.
More new lines planned
The funding round includes contributions worth TL3·8bn for construction of new double track alignments totalling 131 route-km. The new lines include a 56 km link between Gaziantep and the Syrian border, 63 km between Murşitpınar and Şanliurfa, 11·8 km between Sincan Industrial Zone and Kazan, and the 17·4 km first phase of the Konyaray suburban rail line.
The government has allocated a further TL3·47bn for civils, electrification and resignalling of the 42·5 km route between Adana and Gaziantep, while TL7bn is allocated towards design work and early construction in the corridor linking Konya, Karaman, Niğde, Mersin and Adana. These routes total approximately 313 km.
Rolling stock spend
Additionally, TCDD has been given a budget for 2024 of TL11bn for repairing and rebuilding damage to its network and facilities caused by the series of devastating earthquakes in early 2023. The rehabilitation works are expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, national operator TCDD Taşımcılık has a budget for vehicle purchases of TL10·4bn. This is drawn from a longer-term funding agreement worth TL101bn for the 2016-27 period. Planned purchases include 50 Turasaş-produced National Train EMUs, 20 diesel-electric locomotives and 95 electric main line locomotives.
TCDD Taşımcılşık plans to spend TL8·5bn in 2024 on the refurbishment of 1 154 passenger vehicles and 2 543 freight wagons.
The state-backed supplier Turasaş meanwhile has an investment programme worth TL1·6bn for 2024. Key product development plans include a ‘national high speed EMU’ and a domestically designed and produced metro trainset. It also intends to expand its range of freight wagons to suit changes in the market.
