Tahsin Tarhan, CHP Party Assembly Member and Kocaeli Deputy, underlined that TCDD should become stronger and more effective, especially in international transportation, and for this purpose, he submitted a proposal to the Presidency of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on the establishment of a Parliamentary Research Commission.
In his evaluation of the subject, Tarhan said, "We say that Turkey is a bridge between east and west, but how much can we use the advantage of being a bridge?" he asked. Tarhan said, “Special policies should be developed so that Turkey, which is located in the middle line of the economic corridor projects determined as the north, middle and south lines, takes the burden of the northern line in transportation and is seen as the only option for southern Europe and Africa. In this sense, Turkey should use all the advantages of its location to become a logistics base.” said.
Is International Transport Monopolized?
Underlining that our country has important advantages in intermodal transportation, which has become increasingly important in international trade, as it is a point that connects land-air-sea routes, Tarhan pointed out that TCDD has recently handled transportation and maintenance-repair works through companies.
Tarhan said, “TCDD is one of the most established institutions of our country. However, it carries out its transportation and maintenance and repair works through two separate companies of which it is a partner. On the other hand, there are two separate companies that are designated as agencies in international transportation. One of these companies is the only authorized agency in China and the other in Iran. However, they stated that they would encourage competition in transportation and increase the quality of service and the volume of international transportation by ensuring the competitiveness of private companies. At this point, we are faced with the opposite picture. These services, carried out by TCDD by companies, have disabled the parliamentary control. Firms operating in this sector complain of monopoly due to the obligation to work with these two agencies. However, our country has important advantages both in transportation and being a logistics base. For this reason, we want this issue to be evaluated in detail.” He demanded that the issue be discussed in all its aspects in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Tarhan Presented His Proposal About Companies to the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
In addition to the research proposal on TCDD, Tarhan submitted a question about TCDD to the Presidency of the Grand National Assembly, with the request of the Minister of Transport, Adil Karaismailoğlu, to answer. Tarhan requested detailed information about TCDD AŞ and two agencies in his motion.