Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Saturday that the government is working on extending the high-speed rail network in the country and that 14 new routes would be established within a couple of years.

Speaking at the opening ceremony for the high-speed train (YHT) route between the provinces of Eskişehir and Konya, Erdoğan said the travel time between the two cities has now been reduced to two hours. He also said the construction of a high-speed train line between İstanbul and Eskişehir will be completed on Oct. 29.

In addition, he announced that new high-speed lines between Eskişehir and the provinces of Sivas, Yozgat, Kırıkkale, Afyon, Uşak, Manisa, İzmir and Bursa will be included in the network, while from Konya, new high-speed train routes will be added to the provinces of Karaman, Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Gaziantep.

Stressing the importance of Turkey’s Locomotive and Engine Industry Corporation (TÜLOMSAŞ), located in Eskişehir, the prime minister said: “With the modern facilities of TÜLOMSAŞ, we have become a locomotive exporter to Europe. Ten years ago, we were not even able to renew the old train tracks, let alone produce high-speed trains. Currently, we rank eighth in the world and sixth in Europe in the listings for high-speed train production and operations.”

In 2011, TÜLOMSAŞ and GE Transportation introduced a high technology locomotive manufactured in Eskişehir. The Power Haul series locomotives, jointly produced by TÜLOMSAŞ and GE Transportation, are driven by the 16-cylinder Power Haul engine, which is GE’s most technologically advanced locomotive engine to date.

Source Zaman.

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