Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu spoke at the Turkish Hoteliers Association (TÜROB) Traditional Lunch Program and talked about the latest developments about investments. Stating that the Ministry carries people, cargo and data, Karaismailoğlu said, “We are responsible for transporting this in the fastest, easiest and safest way. In order to do this, we are doing very important work together with our staff and a colleague approaching 700 thousand. The work we do is not counted. Not enough, of course. Because mobility is increasing. It is up to us to remove all the difficulties in front of mobility," he said.
Noting that 20 years ago, there was an extremely inadequate road infrastructure in Turkey, Karaismailoğlu said, “We had to bring the road infrastructure to an important level quickly. We put into operation the divided road network, which increased to 20 thousand 28 kilometers in 650 years, and the highway over 68 thousand kilometers. We serve almost 28% of the current traffic on our 650-kilometer road network. That's why our work is so valuable. We have completed an important infrastructure gap, but of course it is not enough. We will add more to it. That's why our plans continue there as well. Thanks to these roads, we save close to 85 billion dollars a year. In addition, most importantly, we save time from fuel, but thanks to the high quality, standard and safety of these roads, we have also reduced traffic accidents by up to 17 percent. Thanks to the highways that have been built, accidents have decreased by up to 80 percent. We save up to 80 thousand lives annually thanks to these safe roads,” he said.
WE HAVE IMPORTANT WORK FOR YENİKAPI CROSSER PORT
Emphasizing that the number of airports has been increased from 27 to 57, Karaismailoğlu said that 20 years ago, the annual number of airline passengers was 30 million, and today this number has increased to 210 million. Underlining that this will be increased even more, Karaismailoğlu stated that the airline is the way of the people and that the whole world will be connected to Turkey. Pointing out that very important airline investments were made, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu noted that Tokat Airport was acquired 2 months ago, and then Rize-Artvin Airport, one of the few examples in the world. Karaismailoğlu said, “We have brought Rize-Artvin Airport, one of the few airports in the world, to our country, which is 3 million square meters in size and has a runway of 3 thousand meters, where all large-bodied aircraft can land comfortably. On the one hand, our works on marinas and cruiser ports continue on the one hand. We have important work for Yenikapı Cruiser Port. We have reached the final stages in the EIA and planning processes. Hopefully, we will put Yenikapı Cruiser Port into service in the coming months. It will also fulfill a very important need for the sector.”
SERIOUS WORK IS BEING DONE FOR TÜRKSAT 5B'S COMMISSIONING IN MID-JUNE
Noting that there are serious studies in the communication sector, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Karaismailoğlu stated that they are trying to enter 5G with domestic and national technologies, and that there are satellite studies on the one hand. Reminding that Turkey was one of the pioneering and leading countries that launched the Türksat 5A and 5B satellites into space last year in the same year, Karaismailoğlu said that serious studies have been carried out for the commissioning of Türksat 5B in mid-June, and that Türksat 5B satellite will cover one third of the world. He said it will be put into service. Karaismailoğlu continued his speech as follows;
“We have become the country as the 6th high-speed train operator in Europe and the 8th in the world. Last year, we transported 19.5 million citizens by high-speed train. After opening Karaman, our high-speed train network reached 1300 kilometers. There is an intense work to increase this to 4 thousand 500 kilometers. These are serious investments. We connected 8 of our cities with high-speed trains, and by 2053, we will increase the number of cities we can reach by high-speed train to 52.”
Referring to the Antalya Airport tender, Karaismailoğlu said that Antalya Airport capacity increase projects have been started and that all investments will be completed by 2025. Emphasizing that Çukurova Airport is also very important for its region, Karaismailoğlu stated that Çukurova Airport will be put into service this year as well.
ONE OF THE RUNWAYS WILL BE USED IN EMERGENCIES
Speaking about the investments made in Istanbul, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu reminded that Istanbul Airport, which has a capacity of 120 million passengers, has been put into service. Karaismailoğlu drew attention to the fact that tourism and airlines are among the sectors most affected by the pandemic. Noting that the effects of Covid 19 are expected to end by the end of this year, Karaismailoğlu said, “Yesterday was a historic day. A part of Atatürk Airport, which has reached its capacity, will continue to serve the people of Istanbul as a nation's garden. One of the runways will be used in emergencies. Istanbul Airport is one of the most successful and successful businesses to be taken as an example in the world. As a Build-Operate-Transfer, it entered world history as an important project that will bring income to the state for years and provide employment for 200 thousand people without leaving a penny from the state. It became the hub point connecting the world. Within the framework of master plans, we have the opportunity to make new investments and increase the capacity to 120 million before reaching 200 million passengers. Sabiha Gökçen is one of the most important airports in the world.
Underlining that there are important developments in metro investments, Karaismailoğlu announced that the Kağıthane-Istanbul Airport metro line will begin to serve as of August. Karaismailoğlu stated that the construction works of the line have now been completed, testing processes and certification studies are continuing. KadıköyHe also stated that the connection of the Kartal-Pendik line to Sabiha Gökçen Airport has been completed and that the testing and certification processes are continuing.
TRANSPORTATION IS THE DYNAMO OF ALL SECTORS
Saying that “The transportation sector is the dynamo of all sectors”, Minister of Transport Karaismailoğlu concluded his speech as follows:
“We have contributed 20 trillion dollars to production in return for the 172 billion dollars investment made by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in the last 1 years. In addition, we have contributed over 500 billion dollars to the national income thanks to these investments. Transportation investments are like a river. They add vitality to the regions they visit, provide mobility and increase productivity. I just want to give an example. After the construction of the Istanbul-Izmir Highway, the number of rooms in the tourism sector increased by nearly 100 thousand, due to the decrease in travel time and the increase in travel comfort on this road route, including the Osmangazi Bridge. As a result of the accessibility of the region, it provides tremendous developments in the tourism sector as well as in all sectors.”
Be the first to comment