TURKEY’s minister of transport and infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, has announced that state-owned rolling stock manufacturer Türasaş has begun work on a high-speed train manufacturing and testing facility at Sakarya in the northwest of the country.
He reported that earthworks have been completed for Turkey’s first high-speed train production facility within the site of the existing Türasaş plant in Sakarya. Work to improve ground conditions is now underway before the foundations of the new plant are laid.
Covering an area of 15,000m2, the new plant is expected to create around 250 new jobs and contribute Lira 3.5bn ($US 83.4m) a year to the national economy. It will be able to produce and test up to 12 high-speed trains a year.
Last year Uraloğlu announced that Türasaş had developed an eight-car high-speed train with a maximum speed of 225km/h. With a total of 582 seats, the new design will be compliant with the European Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) for passenger rolling stock, persons with reduced mobility (PRM) and noise emissions.
"With this factory, built entirely with local and national resources, we will produce the high-speed trains our country needs," Uraloğlu says.
"Thanks to the high value-added products we will produce in our manufacturing facility, we will provide strong support to Turkey’s R&D and technology infrastructure, the development of domestic industry, employment and the overall economy. "
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