Few Days Left for Trains to Arrive at Haydarpaşa Station

Haydarpaşa Solidarity, which has been fighting for exactly 17 years, heralds the return of trains to the historical station. "According to the current plan, we have learned that high-speed trains will arrive at Haydarpaşa Station, that is, Haydarpaşa Station will be reopened to the public as a public transportation space, and we have observed the ongoing construction works for this purpose," the statement said.

According to the news in Birgün; “Haydarpaşa Solidarity, in its press statement on the 569th Sunday action, heralded that there are few days left for the trains to arrive at Haydarpaşa Station. The text of the press release read by BTS ex-President Hasan Bektaş and BTS ex-VQA member Ayşen Dönmez is below and the slogan "Haydarpaşa Gardır Train Station will remain" was chanted at the end of the statement.

In the statement made in front of Haydarpaşa Station, “As you know, Haydarpaşa Station, which is one of the public spaces settled in the daily life of the city, the center of train transportation and the labor space of railwaymen, has been closed to the residents of the city since 2013. However, what happened to Haydarpaşa goes back to the early 2000s. Haydarpaşa Train Station has faced profit-making transformation attempts one after the other, just like many public spaces of Istanbul have been exposed to,” it said.

IT HAS BEEN KEPT ON WATCH FOR 10 YEARS

Reminding that the struggle for Haydarpaşa Train Station started in 2005 and Sunday watch has been going on for exactly 10 years, the following statements were included in the statement:

“As Haydarpaşa Solidarity activists, we have been trying to keep Haydarpaşa Train Station alive as a public space for 17 years. For this reason, our book was called 'Living Haydarpaşa' despite all the attacks, and we told the stories that we kept Haydarpaşa alive. We seem to be stepping into a period where we can finally say 'Haydarpaşa is alive'.

At this point, we are at a moment when we are faced with the first official indication and construction movement that Haydarpaşa Station will preserve its station quality and transportation function. According to the current plan, high-speed trains will come to Haydarpaşa Station, although not with a large capacity as before, the back area will be used according to the maintenance and repair needs of the trains, there will be an area where archaeological finds will be exhibited, that is, Haydarpaşa Train Station will be reopened to the public as a public transportation space. We have learned and observed the ongoing construction works for this purpose.

In this respect, we are happy that our stubborn struggle, which we have been continuing for 17 years under all kinds of difficult conditions, has succeeded in convincing various social segments that Haydarpaşa Train Station remains a station. Since the political winds can change day by day in the geography we live in, we always keep a little hesitation and doubt in us in order to make us act quickly at a critical moment, and we want Haydarpaşa Station to host not only high-speed trains, but also the Marmaray line and conventional regional trains. We would like to share that we will continue our struggle with determination by continuing to demand it.”