Haydarpaşa Station and Port have been forgotten for a while. Archaeological excavation at the back of the station, meanwhile KadıköyIt is on the agenda of the people, but the restoration work in the station is carried out more quietly. In the recent history of Haydarpaşa Station and Port, the struggle for the protection of this place has not been concluded, in fact, it continues.
Haydarpaşa Solidarity continues its “watch” activity on the stairs on Sundays. After the restoration and excavation, Haydarpaşa Station is requested to be returned to the transportation chain and to assume its former role. We talked with Tugay Kartal, the Workplace Representative of the United Transport Union, one of the names in the solidarity, about what was done before and the latest situation.
Can you summarize what Haydarpaşa Solidarity has done so far?
The decisions of the Board were appealed, the plans were objected to. Many possibilities came to the fore for transformation in Haydarpaşa Station and Harbor Area. One of them, if the 2020 Olympics were given to our country, some changes would be made for the Olympics in and around Haydarpaşa station, stadiums would be built, swimming areas would be built. They intended to make some changes.
Fires: Underpinning transformation projects
Then the Haydarpaşa fire… As you know, fires form the basis for many transformation and reconstruction projects in Istanbul. We will not be able to say “this is the direct one” for the fire in Haydarpaşa, but from any point of view, it would form the basis for the transformation. In the first phase of the Haydarpaşa Station restoration project, the Haydarpaşa Station rooftop was given a commercial function. Both Solidarity and Kadıköy The municipality objected. As a result of the appeal, the commercial function on the rooftop was canceled and the restoration project was approved by both the municipality and the board in 2010.
Restoration started in 2018, it is still continuing. The first phase has been completed. Restoration of the attic has been completed. Currently, the repair of the exterior stones is in progress. Restoration of the waiting room on the ground floor has been completed, the section with the toll booths. We have nothing more to say about the restoration process.
Do you think the company is paying due attention?
As far as we can see, they take the necessary care. They brought the stones used in the attic from Spain. A quarry was opened in Lefke, Osmaneli for the outer covering stones. They bring the stones from there.
We are talking about a long-standing struggle, when did the breaking points happen? When were the turning points where you thought you had won or suffered a major defeat?
We never said we won. If we had done such a thing, we would have stopped the Sunday watch.
The need for a station and port continues
So how would you describe your current mission? What is the current task?
Today's task is to express the need for Haydarpaşa Station in terms of national and international railways. To keep the need for the Station and Port on the public agenda.
But right now, Marmaray is short-circuiting here. High Speed Train also departs from Söğütlüçeşme. It's as if the garage is not needed...
That's not enough. Unless there is a comprehensive station like Haydarpaşa Station, that is, there is no station of this size and capacity, the number of trains you can operate is also limited. The maintenance-repair and investment you make do not work either. Are you investing in high-speed trains, will you run 4-6 trains a day, do you need to lift a train every half hour or even 10 minutes?
In a metropolitan city like Istanbul, this is a bit of a problem if there is not a single station. Moreover, we have not one, but two stations, but both are dysfunctional. Sirkeci is also competing with Haydarpaşa. They did their best to detach Sirkeci Station from the railway.
The only example in the world: a bicycle path instead of a railway
In their last attack there, they dismantle the double track railway between Sirkeci and Kazlıçeşme and make a bicycle path. There is no other example like this in the world, dismantle the railway that goes to the center of the city, build a bicycle path… It's not going to happen.
Is it because the lands or locations of these stations are coveted? What could be the reason for not making a station?
The last approach to Haydarpaşa was to bring trains. We also have a ferry transportation between Haydarpaşa and Sirkeci, this ferry transportation is necessary for the transportation of dangerous goods. You cannot pass dangerous goods through the tube or the bridge. For these, you must have ferries going over the sea, where the wagons are loaded. You upload them here, download them in Sirkeci, and continue from there by rail. It was decided to put a ferry port for this transportation.
Apart from that, it was decided to build the Haydarpaşa Train Station with 3-4 platforms and a few platforms for conventional trains, but the plan is still in the design phase, it is not an approved plan.
How are these materials being transported right now?
Not moving.
How?
Not moving.
m like whatAre these the ingredients?
You cannot transport oil. You cannot carry the flammable, explosive, flammable item. You cannot transport goods that do not fit the size of Marmaray… These are not being transported at the moment, and there is not much demand for transportation. But if there is demand, you have no chance to carry it.
There are no pipelines everywhere, in some cases it is necessary to transport by wagon. As far as I can see, they are transporting them in trucks. They also have a number of limitations, they have permissions in hours.
The departure point of the High Speed Train on the Anatolian side is Söğütlüçeşme station. Do you think this place has the feature of a station, actually it just looks like a Marmaray station…
No, it does not have a gar feature. It was built around 1974-75. At that time, a bus terminal was planned to be built on the place where the Tuesday Market – Kuşdili meadow, it would be the bus station on the Anatolian side. Söğütlüçeşme would also be a transfer center. It was built for that purpose, that viaduct station, but when that plan did not materialize, it remained a suburban stop. It's a train maneuver, other work, etc. for; Not suitable for station organization.
High speed but insufficient number of flights, because there is no station
It is not a station that will meet the need. Therefore, the number of trains running is less. The number of trains that you can wait at the station and line up in a row is not enough. Without Haydarpaşa, there is no chance for these things to happen. what replaces it Halkalı meets, neither tube meets. However, we see the increasing need for passengers.
The AKP government does not seem to have a plan for this. The last Minister of Transport, in a speech a year ago, tells that the restoration is going well and that this place will be beautiful, but he never brings up a topic about transportation...
He has some plans in this regard. An infrastructure was prepared for the trains to be brought here. It was then that the question of excavation arose.
Could you briefly describe the excavation? These remains emerged during the restoration, aren't they?
While the restoration was going on here, when the administration decided to bring trains to Haydarpaşa Gara, they made a plan and sent it to the board. Upon this, the board said, “If you are going to do construction, first I will dig it up”.
There would be no excavation if the station area was left undismantled here. The board has documents on the situation here.
Finally they dug the platforms, looking under them. Not much came out here.
So how will the Gar come back then?
This issue has revealed a very difficult situation for us: Will we be on the side of archeology or will we be on the side of transportation? In online meetings, many meetups have discussed these issues; Talked to archaeologists. Our last approach was as follows: We said that both can be lived together. A common solution has been found: The most valuable part will be preserved. Other works that have archaeological value and cannot be exhibited will be covered. Those who need to be moved will be moved. After that, the rails will be laid and the Gar will regain its function, some of which is the archaeological environment.
Haydarpaşa Solidarity for Society, City and Environment
Haydarpaşa Solidarity was founded on 13 May 2005.
The disconnection of Haydarpaşa Station from trains and passengers begins on January 31, 2012, with the last train leaving from here. On the 2013th of June 13, suburban trains come to an end; Marmaray and High Speed Train (YHT) works are shown as the reason for this.
As of February 2012, 5, 514 Sunday vigils have been held on the stairs of Haydarpaşa Station. Today is the 515th watch. On Thursdays, about 200 events, mostly with cultural and artistic content, were held. Kadıköy“Blue Sandal Meetings” were held on Haydarpaşa, the only natural coast of Turkey. New Year's meetings called Kızıltoprak Retirement Association are also held at Kızıltoprak Retirement Association.
Solidarity also deals with urban problems or other issues in Istanbul or other parts of Turkey. Validebag grove, KadıköyBuilding a mosque in Turkey, solidarity with the miners of Soma are some of these…
Solidarity is working hard to keep Gar's memory alive. They try ways and methods of transferring Haydarpaşa to books, novels and stories. According to Tugay Kartal, the documentary "Bir Longing", shot by Ben Hopkins, featured an event held on the stairs of Haydarpaşa Solidarity for 55-56 seconds in total.
A document in which Solidarity's actions and activities are presented under the name of “Haydarpaşa Diary” is being converted into pdf. They are preparing to publish a book of about 50 authors and about 80 stories.
Kadıköy There is a book prepared by the Municipality of Turkey, which was interviewed by names from Solidarity, but Tugay Kartal says that the book has a high selling price. They will distribute the book they have prepared for free,Kadıköy He says they will not sell it for money like his municipality.
Source: HaberSol
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