Controversial Delice-Çorum high-speed rail line tender held: Sharp reaction from CHP

The construction tender for the Delice-Çorum high-speed rail line, organized by the General Directorate of State Railways and previously postponed due to backlash, was completed today. The tender for the construction of the 120-kilometer line was conducted via a "bargaining procedure" in which only two bids were submitted. The Yapı Merkezi İnşaat-YSE Yapı joint venture and the REC Uluslararası İnşaat-Cengiz İnşaat joint venture submitted bids for the project.

DENİZ YAVUZYILMAZ REACTS TO THE TENDER  

CHP Zonguldak Deputy Deniz Yavuzyılmaz criticized the process in a statement on his social media account following the tender, saying:

"The Delice-Çorum High-Speed Rail Line tender, which we called tailor-made, ended as a tailor-made deal. Before the tender on December 27, rumors emerged that Çelikler and Gülermak would win, so the tender was postponed to today. However, the infrastructure portion was given to the same company again. The result of the tender was clear from the very beginning."

Yavuzyılmaz stated that the tender amount was 75,249,608,232 TL and that YSE Yapı and Yapı Merkezi were the winning firms. Claiming that the process was devoid of competition and amounted to a rigged affair, Yavuzyılmaz said, "Competitive conditions were not met in this tender, which was merely dressed up to look legitimate. We will file a criminal complaint regarding the matter."

AKP OFFERS A MESSAGE OF WELL WISHES 

AKP Çorum Deputy Yusuf Ahlatcı, on the other hand, welcomed the completion of the tender. In a statement on his social media account, he said, "The high-speed rail tender we have longed for has been held. A more detailed statement will be made after our Ministry's review. May it be auspicious and beneficial."

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu had stated in his remarks regarding the project last year that the line would be double-tracked, electrified, and signaled. Noting that the Delice-Çorum High-Standard Railway, which has a design speed of 250 km/h, would be integrated with the Ankara-Sivas High-Speed Railway, Uraloğlu emphasized that the travel time between Ankara and Çorum would drop to 1.5 hours once the line is operational.