The government has designated 61 routes or service groups as eligible for Public Service Obligation support, under an amendment to Clause 8 of the railway liberalisation legislation which came into force in May 2013.

TURKEY: The government has designated 61 routes or service groups as eligible for Public Service Obligation support, under an amendment to Clause 8 of the railway liberalisation legislation which came into force in May 2013.

A presidential decree which took effect on April 8 amended the liberalisation regulations to facilitate the provision of public support for the continued operation of rail services that are seen as socially desirable. It provides for the ministry of transport to sign contractual agreements with any operator, private or state-owned, to run the designated service, although as yet there is no indication whether such contracts would be put out to competitive tender.

The initial list covers the majority of routes run by state-owed operator TCDD Taşımacılık, apart from a few services deemed as ‘commercial’, and has been split into three sections, broadly by service type.

The government has designated 61 routes or service groups as eligible for Public Service Obligation support, under an amendment to Clause 8 of the railway liberalisation legislation which came into force in May 2013.

There are seven YHT high speed routes, mainly those serving Ankara and the east of the country rather than the commercial hub of Istanbul. The inter-city category covers 18 conventional services including a number of overnight trains.

The 36 regional routes mainly link smaller towns and cities with the major hubs in each region. There are seven routes radiating from Izmir’s Basmane station, three from Mersin and Eskişehir and two each from Ankara and Zonguldak. Also designated is the Samsun – Sivas route which has just been reopened after an extensive blockade for upgrading and electrification.

In the western part of the country, the list includes services from Istanbul’s suburban interchange at Halkali and routes to the Greek border crossing at Üzünköprü and the Bulgarian border at Kapıkule.

However, it is notable that a number of routes in the southeast of the country have not been included, such as the Toprakkale – İskenderun branch with its six stations and the Nizip – Mardin – Nusaybin line which runs close to the Syrian border. Also missing are the lines from Van to Kapıköy on the border with Iran and Kars to Doğakapı, on closed border with Armenia.

 PSO routes designated under Clause 8

High speed services

Ankara – Eskisehir

Ankara – Karaman

Ankara – Konya

Ankara – Sivas

Konya – Soğutluçeşme

Sivas – Halkali

Sivas – Soğutluçeşme

 

Main line services

İzmir – Bandirma (17 Eylül Express)

İzmir – Bandirma (6 Eylül Express)

Ankara – Malatya (4 Eylül Express)

Ankara – Halkali (Ankara Express)

Ankara – Gebze (Boğazici Express)

Ankara – Adana (Çukurova Mavi Train)

Ankara – Kars (Doğu Express)

İzmir – Eskişehir (Ege Express)

Kayseri – Adana (Erciyes Express)

Elaziğ – Adana (Firat Express)

İsparta – İzmir (Göller Express)

Ankara – Kurtulan (Güney Express)

İzmir – Ankara (İzmir Mavi Express)

İzmir – Balikesir (Karesi Express)

Konya – İzmir (Konya Mavi Express)

Denizli – Eskişehir (Pamukkale Express)

Konya – Adana (Toros Express)

Ankara – Tatvan (Van Gölü Express)

Regional Services

Adana – Mersin

Adapazarı – Pendik

Afyon – Eskişehir

Amasya – Havza

Ankara – Karabük

Ankara – Polatlı

Aydın – Söke

Basmane – Alaşehir

Basmane – Aydın

Basmane – Denizli

Basmane – Ödemiş

Basmane – Söke

Basmane – Tire

Basmane – Uşak

Çatal – Tire

Denizli – Söke

Divriği – Erzincan

Diyarbakir – Batman

Elazığ – Tatvan

Eskişehir – Kütahya

Eskişehir – Tavşanlı

Gaziantep – Nizip

İskenderun – Mersin

İslahiye – Mersin

Kapıkule – Halkalı

Kars – Akyaka

Konya – Karaman

Kütahya – Balıkesir

Manisa – Alaşehir

Samsun – Amasya

Samsun – Sivas

Sivas – Divriği

Söke – Ortaklar

Üzünköprü – Halkalı

Zonguldak – Gökçebey

Zonguldak – Karabük