Speaking at the ceremony, Erdoğan said, "The Halkalı-Kapıkule high-speed train line, with its 229 km length, is one of the projects that will add vision to our country. It has been built as a double-track, electrified, and signaled line. By including Tekirdağ, Kırklareli, and Edirne in the high-speed train network, we are extending it all the way to Kapıkule. The passenger travel time on the Halkalı-Kapıkule line will drop from 4 hours to 1 hour and 30 minutes," he said.
President Erdoğan, who began his speech at the ceremony by thanking the people of Kırklareli, emphasized the strategic importance of the project and expressed his satisfaction with the presence of European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos at the ceremony with the following words:
"I thank the beautiful people of Kırklareli for embracing us with longing, and I pray that the Almighty makes our affection and solidarity eternal. We are here with you today to inaugurate a very important investment. We are experiencing the pride of bringing another strategic project in the field of transportation to our country. First of all, I would like to thank the European Union Commissioner for Enlargement, Ms. Marta Kos, for sharing our excitement with us here today. We are very pleased to host Ms. Kos in our country on this occasion. I hope that the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of the Halkalı-Kapıkule High-Speed Train Line, which we are opening today, will be beneficial to our city, our Thrace region, and Turkey."
200 KILOMETERS PER HOUR SPEED
Sharing the technical details of the project, Erdoğan stated that the train line, which will reach a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, completely connects the region, and said, "As you know, the Halkalı-Kapıkule High-Speed Train Line is one of our transportation projects that will add vision to our country with its total length of 229 kilometers. Our project consists of 3 stages. The 153-kilometer-long Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section is the longest stage of our project. Our line, which will have a design and operating speed of 200 kilometers per hour, has been built as a double-track, electrified, and signaled line." He added that 31 bridges, 8 cut-and-cover tunnels, 2 viaducts, and hundreds of underpasses/overpasses were built on the line.
TIMES ARE SHORTENING
Drawing attention to the major change the new line will create in terms of capacity and time savings, President Erdoğan noted the following: "I would also like to express with pleasure that a new era will begin with the commissioning of our project, the effects of which we will see in a very wide area. First and foremost, the passenger travel time between Halkalı and Kapıkule will drop from 4 hours to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The freight transport time will decrease from 8 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours and 30 minutes. The capacity of the railway line will also increase approximately 4-fold. We expect the annual passenger capacity to rise from 600 thousand to 3 million, and the annual freight capacity from 1.5 million tons to 9.5 million tons. This means the following, my dear brothers and sisters: Transportation will accelerate, logistics will strengthen, the travel process will decrease, and as a result, production will increase, exports will increase, employment will increase, and trade and tourism will hopefully become even more vibrant."
NEW STATIONS BUILT
Stating that the project will grow not only transportation but also the economy, Erdoğan said, "Our project will not only unite hearts and cities, but will also make very serious contributions to the economy of Thrace and Turkey." Referring to the massive growth in station areas, Erdoğan conveyed the infrastructure investments with these words: "We are increasing our railway capacity at Kapıkule, which is Turkey's gateway to Europe. We are increasing the number of tracks in the station area from 23 to 42, and the total line length from 15 thousand 675 meters to 51 thousand meters. Within the scope of the project, we are building new station buildings in Babaeski, Lüleburgaz, and Büyükkarıştıran. We are rebuilding the Kapıkule and Edirne station buildings. The freight station personnel building and locomotive maintenance workshop in Çerkezköy are also included in the scope of the project. Thus, we are bringing not only the main line but all elements of the line to a modern and strong structure. I wish it to be auspicious and beneficial."
"ACCESS TO EUROPEAN MARKETS WILL BE EASIER"
Prominent headlines from President Erdoğan's statements: "Please do not let this escape your attention: We cannot limit the importance of the Halkalı-Kapıkule line only to Thrace. This line also strengthens the European connection of the Middle Corridor, which extends to Europe via Baku, Tbilisi, Kars, and Marmaray. The Halkalı-Kapıkule Project is one of the critical parts of the 2,094-kilometer section of the 6,314-kilometer Development Corridor passing through Turkey. It will form the European connection at the western end of the Development Road, which will start from the Port of Faw and extend to Europe through our country. This picture actually shows us this: Our transportation investments have ceased to be just road, bridge, and railway investments and have turned into the most strategic links of global trade routes. The Halkalı-Kapıkule line will facilitate the access of our industrial centers and ports, especially the organized industrial zones in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ, and Thrace, to European markets. Therefore, this line will hopefully be a vein connecting Anatolia's production to European markets and a logistics backbone that accelerates Turkey's achievement of its export targets. I wish this important project, which I believe will make great contributions to the Turkish economy along with the Thrace region, to be auspicious. I would like to especially express that I feel great happiness in bringing such a strategic investment to our Kırklareli and our entire region. I pray that the Almighty does not separate us from the path of serving you and the Turkish nation."
"WE ARE THE ONES INTRODUCING IT AGAIN"
Among the areas where we have literally brought Turkey to a new age in 24 years are our transportation investments. During our terms in power, the current value of our transportation investments has risen to 355 billion dollars. The share of our railways in this is approximately 80 billion dollars. We have brought our total railway network to 13 thousand 919 kilometers.
We have increased our electrified line length from 2 thousand 122 kilometers to 7 thousand 274 kilometers. We have achieved an increase of 243 percent. Our signaled line length has risen from 2 thousand 505 kilometers to 8 thousand 419 kilometers. Our increase here was 236 percent. We were the ones who introduced our country to the comfort of high-speed trains. My brothers and sisters, we took it from scratch and built a 2 thousand 251-kilometer-long high-speed train line in our country. Today, 51 percent of our population benefits from high-speed train services. With the completion of the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule line, the length of our high-speed train lines will rise to 2 thousand 604 kilometers.
The number of our provinces with direct high-speed train connections will be 14. We want to increase this to 27 cities by the end of 2028. We are continuing our railway investments all over Turkey. Currently, the construction of a total of 4 thousand 858 kilometers of railway lines is underway. Our goal for 2053 is to increase our railway line length to -pay attention- 28 thousand 590 kilometers. Here, I believe I would like to emphasize once again a deep difference that you also see very clearly. You see our agenda. You follow what we are busy with, what we are working for, what our goals and dreams are. On our agenda is serving you, bringing works to our country.
We were in Şanlıurfa last week. We opened our city hospital with a 2 thousand bed capacity in Urfa. At TEKNOFEST Southeast, we witnessed the proud projects of our young people who are the hope of Turkey. Before that, we carried out the opening of the Istanbul Airport 4th runway and additional investments. Before that, we put our 1,458-bed Samsun City Hospital, which is a 17 billion lira investment, into service in Samsun.
Today, we are here. We do not stop, we do not rest, we work with passion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We produce action! We produce service! Not just talk, we are laying stone upon stone. We are running day and night to prepare Turkey for the new century. So what are those who constantly criticize us and constantly attack us doing? They are doing the same thing today as they have been doing for 24 years. Pay attention; there is no concrete project on their agenda."
News Source: 12punto
