(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By News Centre
Turkish transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir
Uraloğlu presented the 2025 budget of the Ministry at the TBMM
Planning and Budget Commission. Uraloğlu stated that the Ministry
consists of 17 general directorates and 10 directorates, including
8 central, 5 related, 2 affiliated and 2 related organizations.
"We provide a total of 223,000 people with employment, including
our 131,000 Ministry personnel and those working at 2,003
construction sites throughout the country," he said.
Emphasizing that the main field of activity of the ministry is
to ensure human, freight and data mobility, Uraloğlu said that in
the Turkish Century, we are working to be a pioneer in the world
with human and environment-oriented, smart and safe integrated
transportation systems.
He stated that they have increased railway transportation by
reducing the annual load share in road transportation within the
scope of the 2053 net zero emission target.
“As the first Ministry to calculate its corporate carbon
footprint, we have achieved a carbon emission reduction of 62
million tons in our Marmaray project alone. Emission reductions
from the projects will be converted into credits in carbon
exchanges. In line with this vision, we are meeting with our youth,
the guarantor of our future, by also cooperating closely with our
universities and carrying our country into the future together,"
Uraloğlu said.
Uraloğlu pointed out Turkiye's strategic location that connects
the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, and said that with only
a 4-hour flight distance, we are at the center of 67 countries
where 1.5 billion people live and have a total Gross National
Product of $51.2trl. He said that Turkiye, which is at the center
of Eurasian logistics, connects China to Europe with the Middle
Corridor called the New Silk Road, and we are strengthening our
global competitive power with the International Development Path
Corridor we have planned.
Uraloğlu stated that cargoes reach Turkiye from China via the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway via the Middle Corridor to Europe via
Marmaray.
"The Zangezur Corridor, which will shorten the distances between
Azerbaijan and our country, will directly connect the Baku Port to
Turkiye. Our international cooperation efforts continue in the
Development Road project, which will carry cargo coming from China,
East Asia and India via the Persian Gulf to Europe. We planned a
727-kilometer new line investment for the 2,094-kilometer railway
connection passing through our country within the scope of the
Development Road, and a 331-kilometer new highway investment for
the 923-kilometer highway corridor," he added.
Minister Uraloğlu announced that they will start the
construction of the Kars - Iğdır - Aralık - Dilucu Railway Line and
Dörtyol - Hassa Highway and Railway Connection Projects, which are
the 224-kilometer Turkiye section that will provide the connection
to the Zengezur Corridor.
He noted that they continue to plan new railway projects with
the aim of expanding and developing railways.
"The Ankara-Istanbul Super High Speed Train Project is 344
kilometers long and we will reduce the travel time to 80 minutes
with our trains that will reach a speed of 350 kilometers per hour.
High-capacity passenger and freight transportation will be provided
between Asia and Europe with the Northern Marmara High Speed
Train Line. Sabiha Gökçen and Istanbul Airports will be connected
to each other, thus strengthening the connection between two
important transportation centers," he said.
Minister Uraloğlu stated that they have started the project work
for the Samsun-Sarp High Speed Train Line and added that the
Divriği-Kars-Border Railway Line Rehabilitation will completely
modernize the line. Passenger and freight demand will be met in the
north-south corridor with the Aksaray-Ulukışla-Yenice High Speed
Train Line. We will soon start the construction of the Kırıkkale
(Delice)-Çorum section of the Kırıkkale-Çorum-Samsun High Speed
Train Line, which will connect Ankara to the Black Sea by high
speed train.
“Investments reached $280.6bln indicating that the investments
made under the AK Party government between 2002 and 2024 reached
$280.6bln. We increased the share of railway investments in project
size from 33 percent in 2013 to 53 percent in 2023 and 55 percent
in 2024. We will make an investment of ₺ 2.3 trl in 2,667 projects in our
investment portfolio. In 2024, an investment appropriation of
₺ 351bln was allocated for all sectors of
our Ministry. We completed 50 projects with a total investment
amount of ₺ 112 bln in 28 provinces and offered
them to the service of our citizens. We proposed our 2025
investment proposal as ₺ 482 bln, an increase of 26.9 percent
compared to the previous year," he underscored.
Minister Uraloğlu also touched on regarding the railway sector
and said that a total of 92 million passengers have been
transported to date with the High-Speed Trains we have brought to
Turkiye. He noted that they aim to increase the length of the
railway line, which has reached 13,919 kilometers, to 17,287
kilometers in 2028 and 28,590 kilometers in 2053.
Uraloğlu underlined that as the 8th country in the world to
start operating high-speed trains in 2009, they have brought 11
provinces directly together with high-speed trains with the
Ankara-Eskişehir-İstanbul, Ankara-Konya-Karaman, Ankara-Sivas
lines.
The minister reminded that they have connected two continents
with an undersea railway thanks to Marmaray in urban rail
systems.
"1.2 billion passengers have used Marmaray to date. One sixth of
the world's population is easy to say. Başkentray serves an average
of 65 thousand passengers with 138 trips per day, İZBAN serves an
average of 230 thousand passengers with 225 trips per day, and
GAZİRAY serves an average of 7 thousand passengers with 98 trips
per day," he said.
Uraloğlu also shared data on urban rail systems put into service
in Istanbul.
"Approximately 41 million passengers were served with the
Pendik-Sabiha Gökçen Airport Metro, 13 million passengers with the
Istanbul Airport-Gayrettepe Metro Line, and 7 million passengers
with the Başakşehir-Çam and Sakura Hospital-Kayaşehir Metro Line.
We have carried 14 million passengers with the
Bakırköy-Bahçelievler-Kirazlı Metro, which we put into service in
February 2024, since the day it was opened," Uraloğlu said.
The Minister also reminded that they brought the historical
peninsula together with modern rail systems with an environmentally
friendly approach with the Sirkeci-Kazlıçeşme Line and added that
provided access to Istanbul Airport on the north-south axis with a
second metro line.
“We are also expanding urban rail systems in other cities
besides Istanbul. In Ankara, we provided an uninterrupted
connection between the AKM-Gar-Kızılay metro and the Keçiören metro
to Kızılay. In Kocaeli, we brought the city hospital together with
the tram line. We have provided transportation to 5.5 million
passengers to date with our Kayseri-Anafartalar tram line, where we
use domestic and national vehicles. We will complete the Bursa
Emek-YHT-Şehir Hastanesi Metro, which we put into partial service
in 2024, in 2026," he said.
Minister Uraloğlu underlined that they have achieved
liberalization in the railway transportation sector and noted that
in order to increase the use of railways in the logistics sector,
they will increase the length of the current connection lines,
which are 439 kilometers, to 608 kilometers by 2028.
Uraloğlu also shared data on ongoing railway projects and
continued his words as follows:
"We plan to complete our 3,092-kilometer high-speed train line,
which is currently ongoing, by 2028. Of these; thanks to the
Ankara-Izmir high-speed railway line, the current line length of
824 kilometers will be reduced to 505 kilometers, and the travel
time of 14 hours will be reduced to approximately 3.5 hours. With
the 312-kilometer Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye and Gaziantep high-speed
train line, the travel time of 6.5 hours will be reduced to 2 hours
and 15 minutes. On the Bandırma-Osmaneli High-Speed Train line,
the Bursa-Osmaneli section will be put into service at the end of
2025, and the Bandırma-Bursa section will be put into service in
2028. When the project is completed, Ankara-Bursa and
Bursa-Istanbul will be 2 hours
It will be 15 minutes. With the 229-kilometer Halkalı-Kapıkule
High Speed Train Line, passenger travel time will decrease from 4
hours to 1.5 hours and freight transportation time will decrease
from 6.5 hours to 3.5 hours. The current line capacity will
increase 4-fold."
Uraloğlu stated that the Yerköy – Kayseri High Speed Train
Line, which is integrated with the Ankara-Sivas high speed railway,
will reduce the travel time between Ankara and Kayseri from 7 hours
and 47 minutes to 2 hours, and that they are continuing the
construction of the 135-kilometer Karaman-Ulukışla high speed train
project, which is the continuation of the Konya-Karaman high speed
train project.
Uraloğlu, who stated that the construction work preparations for
the Filyos Port and Filyos Industrial Zone Connection Line
connection, which will serve the Black Sea natural gas reserve area
and play a critical role in the development of the region, are
ongoing.
"With the aim of increasing the use of railways in the logistics
sector, we planned the connection line connections of the port,
industry and free zones in the Çukurova Region. We prioritize the
design and production of all rail system vehicles in the railway
sector with national and local means," he said.
Stating that they have increased the capacity by modernizing
TÜRASAŞ vehicle production facilities in line with the needs, he
said that they are also implementing urban rail system projects
within the scope of our railway investments and 434 kilometers of
the 1,115-kilometer urban rail system line throughout the country
has been built by the Ministry.
Sharing examples from ongoing highway projects, Uraloğlu
continued his words as follows:
"We aim to complete our 45-kilometer Nakkaş-Başakşehir project,
which is part of the Northern Marmara Motorway, in 2026. With the
Sarıyer-Kilyos Tunnel, travel time to Sarıyer will decrease from 35
minutes to 5 minutes. 404 kilometers of the 440-kilometer
Mediterranean Coastal Road between Mersin and Antalya has been
completed. We continue our work. We have started the construction
of our Ankara-Kırıkkale-Delice Motorway and Antalya-Alanya Motorway
projects." Minister Uraloğlu also announced that the Central
Anatolian Motorway, an important project that will connect the
Northern Marmara Motorway to Ankara, has been included in the
plans.”
Stating that Turkiye rose from 5th place in Europe in 2019 to
3rd place in 2023 and from 10th place to 7th place in the world in
terms of total airline passenger traffic, Uraloğlu said, "Istanbul,
Sabiha Gökçen, Antalya, Esenboğa, Adnan Menderes and Dalaman
Airports have reinforced our country's strong position in aviation
infrastructure with their success in European and world rankings.
We increased the number of domestic flight destinations from 26 in
2003 to 58 in 2024 and are increasing the number of domestic flight
frequencies by 10 percent in 2025."
Minister Uraloğlu stated that while they fly to 60 destinations
in 50 countries, they have added 287 new destinations to the flight
network, bringing it to 347 destinations in 131 countries, and
said, "In addition, in our country, which has become one of the
world's leading transit centers for airlines, we have increased the
number of countries with which we have signed Air Transportation
Agreements from 81 to 175 after 22 years." Minister Uraloğlu also
announced that 50 passenger and environment-friendly airports have
achieved significant success by earning certification in the
Airports Council International's Airport Carbon Accreditation
Program.
Stating that they have developed software that reduces external
dependency in critical systems, Uraloğlu said, "We have started
using our local and national Air Traffic Monitoring software İRADE,
which reduces external dependency in critical systems, at our
Çukurova and Atatürk Airports. We have created vertiport areas
suitable for the use of VTOL and fixed-wing aircraft with our 14
Air Campuses. The number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has reached 79
thousand, UAV Pilot License ownership has reached 1 million 600
thousand, and in this direction, we have started the UAV Tracking
and Traffic Management System Project for the safe and secure
management of UAVs."
Minister Uraloğlu also provided information about the completed
airport projects and said, "We opened Istanbul Airport 1st Stage
1st Phase on October 29, 2018, Rize Artvin Airport on May 14, 2022,
Sabiha Gökçen Airport 3rd Stage works are ongoing and the 2nd
runway on December 25, 2023, Turkiye's First Local and National
Surveillance Radar in December 2023, Kayseri Airport Terminal
Building and Apron on February 3, 2024, and Çukurova International
Airport on August 10, 2024."
Speaking about the ongoing investments in the airline sector,
Minister Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:
"We are increasing the capacity of Antalya Airport to 82 million
passengers and Esenboğa Airport to 30 million passengers by
building a 3rd runway. We aim to complete the Malatya Airport New
Terminal Building with an annual capacity of 2.5 million passengers
in 2025. We are implementing the Hatay Airport's PAT Fields Repair
and Development project. We will renew the Cappadocia Airport
terminal building and build a new terminal building of 10,650 m2
and a new terminal building of approximately 3,400 m2 for Siirt
Airport. We will also put our Yozgat and Bayburt-Gümüşhane airports
into service in 2026. The first stage of our Trabzon New Airport
project is progressing rapidly."
Minister Uraloğlu stated that they have implemented all stages
of the shipbuilding life cycle in Turkiye and said, "We carry out
design, production, operation, maintenance and recycling processes
with modern technologies. I would like to state that we are one of
the few countries that can do this. For our rights and interests in
the Blue Homeland, we are carrying out our Eastern Mediterranean
Ship Traffic Services Project in the TRNC in cooperation with
HAVELSAN. With the Blue Economy and Marine Area Planning, we aim to
obtain maximum benefit from solar, wind energy, underground
resources and fishing activities in our seas. We are Rejuvenating
our National Maritime Trade Fleet! We have expanded the incentive
for new shipbuilding by increasing the tonnage of ships to be
scrapped from 5 thousand gross tons to 50 thousand gross tons."
MENAFN28112024000195011045ID1108937199