Think Railways

Representatives of the railway sector came together on 8^th April 2015 in Istanbul, at the conference organized by TÜV SÜD. The new technologies along with the new regulations, challenges and solutions concerning the sector were discussed with all stakeholders.

As one of the world's leading companies providing testing, certification, inspection, auditing and training services in many sectors, TÜV SÜD organized a sectoral meeting entitled "Future of the Railway Sector in Turkey". In this meeting, which brought together a large number of stakeholders from Istanbul University, Railways Regulatory Directorate General (DDGM), public and private sectors, ideas were exchanged about new regulations concerning the sector, new technologies in the world and the problems of railways.

CEO of the TÜV SÜD Rail GmbH company based in Germany, Klaus Bosch spoke at the conference stating that the growing railway sector in Turkey has attracted the world's attention and that they want to contribute to the growth of the industry with international experience.

Bosch said, “We have operations all around the world. The industry's crucial concern is safety and security. We are conveying our know-how and experience in safety to Turkey and we will be continuing to do so. Investments are very important for the sector's growth, however the maintenance of these investments are also crucial as much as the new investments”. Klaus Bosch has indicated that they would like to convey the information they have into Turkey and said, “We would like to collaborate with the universities in Turkey and ensure the participation of the qualified personnel to the industry. Ankara and Eskisehir attracts our attention as suitable locations for such training activities”.

Hakan Özsezer, CEO of TÜV SÜD Turkey, said that the modernization of railways in Turkey is a very crucial phase that is full of challenges as well as opportunities. Özsezer said, “We are watching with pleasure to see that the long neglected railways industry since the 1950s is getting the interest it deserves in recent years. Turkey is at an important crossroads with respect to the development of the railways sector. We will witness the rapid development of the railway industry in the next 10-15 years. TÜV SÜD’s 50 years of experience in the railway sector will add value to the process of overcoming the problems that may be encountered during this phase. As TÜV SÜD, we aim to contribute to the safe, effective and sustainable development of the railway sector in Turkey”.

Four major factors have come to the forefront as the key factors in development of the sector; which are reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. While TÜV SÜD is helping the rail manufacturers, operators, and public institutions to ensure these criteria, experienced experts of TÜV SÜD are able to meet the technical support, engineering, inspection, certification and training needs of all of their customers in the areas of high-speed railways, subways, light rails and traditional railways from the beginning of the job until the end.

Turkey will invest $45 billion in railways until 2023

45 billion dollars of the 350 billion dollar investment that is scheduled to be assigned to the transportation sector is planned to be allocated to railways. Of the total 13 thousand kilometers of railways to be constructed until 2023, 3 thousand 500 kilometers will be of high-speed, 8 thousand 500 kilometers will be of fast and one thousand kilometers will be of conventional railways, which increase the importance of this sectoral meeting.