Factory trial starts for first Turkish-made electric train

Factory acceptance trials of Turkey’s first indigenous electric train began in the northwestern province of Sakarya’s Adapazarı district yesterday in a ceremony held under anti-pandemic measures. 

Even during the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Turkey Wagon Industry Corporation’s (TÜVASAŞ) personnel continued to work hard to complete the project, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said during the testing ceremony.

After the factory trials, railway testing will be conducted at the end of August. According to the plans, the first Turkish-made electric train will start serving before the end of this year.

The design and operating speeds of the first train set produced were planned as 176 kilometers per hour, and 160 km/h, respectively.

The train, designed for intercity travel, can be produced for 20 percent less than comparable imported models, Varank said, lauding its high rate of domestic production, including its main control, monitoring, climate and lightening systems.

The prototype was 60 percent produced with domestic resources and this may reach 80 percent in the mass production phase, he said.

Varank noted that the annual volume of the global railway systems sector was around 160 billion euros ($180 billion) and is expected to increase rapidly.

Turkey can be a global player in this area and will spend 15 billion euros on railway systems in the next decade, he added.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoglu said TÜVASAŞ, which was established as a train repair facility, had become the largest railway system producer in the Middle East.

Noting that TÜVASAŞ would continue its operations under the name of Turkey Rail System Utilities Industry Company (TÜRASAŞ), he said the ministry would prioritize railway projects in the coming period.

We’ll work to make Turkey an important railway production hub.

The country has spent 880 billion liras ($338.46 billion) in transportation and communication infrastructure during the last 18 years and 162 billion liras ($62.3 billion) of this amount was in railway systems, he stressed.