TESTING is underway in Turkey of the country’s first domestically developed 225km/h train, built by Türasas. Turkish State Railways (TCDD) is set to procure another 14 of the eight-car trains by 2028.
Confirming the start of trials on the mainline network, Turkey’s minister of transport and infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, says the testing programme will assess the train’s speed, braking, and driving performance as well as infrastructure compatibility. “Our goal is to put it into passenger service by the end of the year,” Uraloğlu says.
The eight-car aluminium-bodied train has capacity for 577 passengers. It is equipped with an automatic train protection (ATP) system, fully automatic air-conditioning, fire safety systems and CCTV, audio and visual passenger information systems, Wi-Fi, vending machines and an onboard kitchen. Uraloğlu adds that the train control and management system and traction equipment have been developed in Turkey by domestic supplier Aselsan.
Uraloğlu says construction of a new manufacturing facility to produce the 225km/h trains in Sakraya has reached the half-way point. Turkey is expected to require 81 trains comprising 648 carss by 2035, an average of 65 cars per year. TCDD already operates a fleet of 31 high-speed trains supplied by CAF and Siemens. With several new line projects underway, the country’s high-speed network is expected to reach 17,287km by 2028 and 25,590km by 2053.
“With a production and testing capacity of 12 trains per year, it will create approximately 250 new jobs and contribute Lira 3.5bn ($US 79.4m) annually to the economy,” Uraloğlu says.
“Thanks to the capacity of our factory, we will both reduce our dependence on foreign sources in this field and increase our export potential. Hopefully, we will finish the construction of our factory this year.”
