📌When you look at the development maps of countries, you see a common line: Railway…🚃

Railway is a strategic lever that should be done first for the spread of production to the country’s geography without being regionally squeezed:

• It is part of the industrial and export strategy in China
• It’s the backbone where manufacturing connects to logistics

• Reduces road traffic, carbon emissions, and costs

📌Where are we in this picture?

We have 13,919 km of railways in Turkey and our situation according to the EU:(1)

Railway main line length per 100,000 population:

• TURKEY: 12 Km
• European Union 27 Countries: 45 Km

Railway main line length reduced to 1,000 Km2:

• TURKEY: 14 Km
• European Union 27 Countries: 48Km

🔍The length of the railway per “population (#1) and the country’s surface area (#2)” shows a country’s planning capacity, industrial vision and long-term outlook.

(1) Source: Republic of Turkey Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change https://cevreselgostergeler.csb.gov.tr/karayolu–demiryolu-agi-yogunlugu-i-85788#_edn2

📌How many railways should there be in Turkey?

(#1) According to the length of the railway main line per 100.000 population: 26.000 Km

(#2) According to the length of the railway main line reduced to 1.000 Km²: 27.000 km

We need to have a railway ⁽²⁾ Available approx. 14,000 Km

• In the last 4 years, approximately 1.000 km of railways have been built in our country. ⁽³⁾

⁽²⁾ When we take 70% of the EU level as a target in terms of the effects of geographical conditions and the achievable level.

⁽³⁾ TCDD Statistical Yearbook 2020–2024

📌 Shall we evaluate the railways with their financials?

📊 Data: TCDD Statistical Yearbook (2020–2024) https://static.tcdd.gov.tr/webfiles/userfiles/files/istrapor/202024isyil.pdf

⚠️ Total loss of railways in the last 5 years: €2 billion.                                                          Total loss in 2024: 12.6 billion TL_

✅ 9% increase in line length_

✅ 32% decrease in financial loss per km_(2020: €37.3k → 2024: €25.5k)_

⚠️ However, there is still a loss of €25 thousand per km.

✅ 44% improvement in the expense-income ratio.

📌 Agency’s Analysis:

• According to the data in our country in the same report, only around 5% of freight and passenger transportation in our country is carried out by railways. The rates in the EU are 22% for freight and 8% for passengers. In other words, we have a long way to go, especially in freight transportation.
• The development of railways, not only lines; It is the development of the surface, that is, the whole country.
• Of course, considering industrialization as an integrated structure; Logistics is just one of these legs.
• Rail travel from the user’s perspective; It has advantages such as urban transportation, security, in-vehicle mobility, comfort and economic accessibility.

The increase in productivity in recent years is clear. However, the solution of structural problems is urgent.