TURKISH State Railways (TCDD) started dynamic testing of ETCS Level 1 on the new 102km, 200km/h Konya - Karaman line on February 8 and has completed a test run on the full length of the 405km, 250km/h Ankara - Sivas line.
Signalling tests on the Konya - Karaman line will continue until March 15. TCDD says that when the line opens, the travel time will be cut from 1h 15min to 35 minutes.
Construction of the 135km, 200km/h Karaman - Ulukışla section is now 73% complete. The project includes construction of two tunnels, 12 bridges, 44 under or overpasses and 141 culverts. TCDD says the mixed-traffic Konya - Karaman - Ulukışla line will have capacity for 34 trains/day/direction, which is three times the capacity of the existing line. The line will also cut transit times for freight travelling to the ports of Mersin and İskenderun.
Testing on the Ankara - Sivas high-speed line has covered line measurement, dynamic test running, and ETCS Level 1 tests.
TCDD general manager, Mr Ali İhsan Uygun, was on-board the first train to run the entire length of the new line on January 25. “We have seen the fruit of years of labour today,” Uygun said. “We saw the light at the end of the tunnel. If the test drives are successful, we will have put the line into operation at the end of the test period that will last four to five months.
For detailed data on lines in Turkey and around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
