Siemens Velaro TR Starts to Operation

The new high speed train Velaro TR, operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, will set its commercial operation starting today. In January this year, Turkish Railways (TCDD) General Manager, İsa Apaydın and TCDD Taşımacılık General Director, Veysi Kurt, signed the official contract for the rail access agreement.

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İsa Apaydın, the General Director of TCDD, recalled that there is a new beginning in railway transport, after the Law on Liberalisation of Turkish Railway Transport, the work on secondary legislation as well as the restructuring of TCDD and the subsidiary partnership, TCDD Taşımacılık, was completed and the operation is also finalised. Turkish State Railways (TCDD) became solely responsible for infrastructure and traffic management, with TCDD Taşımacılık formed as a passenger and freight operations subsidiary.

Strengthening its high speed train fleet, TCDD Taşımacılık will increase the services on the high speed network. Thus, Ankara-Konya train services will increase from 7 to 10 trains in each direction, Ankara-Eskișehir from 5 to 6 trains and Ankara-Istanbul from 6 to 7 trains, every day. Siemens trains will only run between Ankara and Konya.

In May 2013, Turkish State Railways (TCDD) placed an order with Siemens for a first Velaro-D-based train. The train took on the passenger service between Ankara and Konya on May 24, 2015. A further order for six additional 8-car high-speed trains based on the Velaro-platform followed. The delivery for six additional trains is scheduled for 2017.