The bill for the local elections became a 'service' stick: They canceled it claiming there were not enough passengers

The Ankara-Elmadağ Regional Train line was opened just 10 days before the March 31 local elections.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu attended the ceremony held at the Elmadağ Train Station on March 21 for the start of the Ankara-Elmadağ Regional Train services, alongside AKP Elmadağ mayoral candidate Eyyüp Tekiner. 

Uraloğlu, who opened the train line by saying "We kept our promise," stated that the departure times were determined according to the needs of the citizens.

Minister of Transport Uraloğlu had said "We kept our promise" at the opening of the line.

THEY CANCELED IT

According to the report by Tarık Işık from Sözcü; in the local elections held 10 days after the opening, CHP's Adem Barış Aşkın, who has been the mayor of Elmadağ since 2019, won again with 53.28 percent of the vote. 

Five months have passed, and TCDD decided to stop the services as of August 31, citing "lack of sufficient passenger demand." Reacting to the closure of the line, CHP Deputy Chairman Ulaş Karasu said the following: 

"They think they will punish the will of the nation. Services built with the nation's taxes have become an election trump card for the AKP. If necessary, reduce the number of daily trips, which is 6. When the line is closed, transportation, which takes 40-45 minutes, will pile up on the highway with private vehicles, travel times will increase, and traffic will form."

News Source: 12punto