Turkiye's Railway Electrification Project To Boost Middle Corridor Capacity

(MENAFN- AzerNews) Qabil Ashirov Read more

The World Bank's Board of Directors has approved a financial support package of $660 million to support Turkiye's efforts in developing electric rail transport.

According to the bank's statement, the decision to grant the loan was made on December 5. The funds will be used to improve the railway connection in the Divriği-Kars section, which is part of the Trans-Caspian International transport Route (Middle Corridor) in eastern Turkiye.

The project aims to replace diesel trains with electric ones and fully electrify and modernize the 660-kilometre railway between Divriği in Sivas province and Kars on the Georgian border. The project will connect four provinces-Sivas, Erzincan, Erzurum, and Kars-and benefit approximately 600,000 residents along the route. It also aims to provide significant support to local businesses and agricultural enterprises.

Upon completion, the project is expected to increase rail freight capacity from approximately 750,000 tons to 20 million tons per year, thereby eliminating a major bottleneck in the Middle Corridor.

The project is also expected to prevent 72,332 tons of carbon emissions annually by 2030, with this figure projected to rise to 245,835 tons by 2060. The total cost of the project is estimated at $800 million.

Speaking to Azernews on the issue, the expert on transport Rauf Aghamirzayev emphasized that this is very important and good news. He noted that Turkiye is one of the most important countries of the Middle Corridor and one of the narrow straits in the eastern Anatolian part of Turkiye is the section between Sivas and Kars.

“Considering that Turkiye's railway infrastructure requires quite serious investments and Turkiye has a plan for the development of a large railway for the next hundred years. Currently, Turkiye has directed 55 per cent of its budget allocated for infrastructure to the development of the railway, and the two-line section of the 13 thousand-kilometre railway network is approximately 800 kilometres. Therefore, the second line to be built between Sivas and Kars and the electrification of this line will both increase the carrying capacity and contribute to reducing emissions in accordance with the decarbonization policy and will create conditions for increasing the freight capacity via an environmentally friendly railway,” he said.

Rauf Aghamirzayev pointed out that serious projects are being implemented throughout Turkiue. There are works that have been done and are ongoing in Turkiye over the years, which, once completed, will contribute to faster connections on the East-West Corridor.

“Take the Halkalı-Kapıkule railway project for example. With the completion of this project, the section of the Silk Road route passing through Turkiye will constitute one of the most important nodes that form the European connection. It is planned to reduce the passenger travel time between Halkalı and Kapıkule (Edirne) from 4 hours to 1 hour 30 minutes; reduce the freight transportation time from 6 hours 30 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes and increase the capacity of the current line by 4 times. The project is planned to be completed in 2025,” he said.

The expert underscored that of course, all this will also lead to an increase in the volume of cargo passing through Azerbaijan. Because if cargo comes from Europe to Azerbaijan via Turkiye, then there is also a cargo flow from Central Asia to Georgia and Turkiye via Azerbaijan.

“These roads are of great importance in the Middle Corridor. I think that the announced projects will be completed within 4 years. Also, the construction of the Kars-Igdir-Diluc-Sedarak railway, whose initial mobilization has already been completed, has already begun.

In conclusion, as we mentioned above, the completion of all these projects will make a great contribution to the increase in the volume of transportation along the Middle Corridor,” expert on transport Rauf Aghamirzayev concluded.

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