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Article: Turkey speeds into the future: Turkey is well on the way to creating a high-speed rail network of almost 3000km, with the first new line due to open this year, David Briginshaw reports from Istanbul.(Turkey)
- Article from:
- International Railway Journal
- Article date:
- January 1, 2009
- Author:
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THE first section of the 533km high-speed line linking the Turkish capital Ankara with its commercial centre Istanbul is due to open early this year. This will mark the start of a major transformation of long-distance rail travel in Turkey.
Turkish State Railways' (TCDD) market share of passenger traffic is a miserable 3%, despite a sharp increase in the country's population from 51.4 million in 1985 to 71 million today. There are three main reasons for this. Insufficient money has been invested in the existing rail network, which means that rail travel is very slow and trains are infrequent, so rail is hopelessly uncompetitive with road, let alone air transport. ...