Minister Uraloğlu said that the Eastern Express, which started its first voyage in 1949, traveled 100 million kilometers and circumnavigated the world 2 times. Minister Uraloğlu gave the good news that Touristic Regional Train services have started between Kars-Erzurum-Kars in order to offer citizens an alternative train journey and ticket sales have been made as of today.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu attended the farewell ceremony of the Touristic Eastern Express, which was on its first voyage this season. Emphasizing that railway travel is a culture and that separations and reunions begin with a train whistle, Minister Uraloğlu said:
“I am very pleased to come together with you at this meaningful ceremony where we will bid farewell to the Eastern Express, which passes through the unique lands of Anatolia, and the 'Touristic Eastern Express', which takes the journey one step further. Since the first rail was laid on the Izmir-Aydın line in 1856, our railways; It has witnessed the last 167 years of our country, and our trains have carried passengers and cargo, as well as the values that make us who we are and ensure our unity and solidarity. Our people have traveled towards their dreams with our trains on iron rails. In addition, train journeys are nostalgic as they evoke associations from the recent past. Rail travel is a culture. Separation and reunion begin with a train whistle. "The Eastern Express, which started its first voyage in 1949, has followed the footsteps of the material and spiritual values of the Turkish cultural heritage in every period it has served."
100 MILLION KM ROADS
Minister Uraloğlu, Eastern Express; Pointing out that it has completed its 74-kilometer track on the Ankara-Kars line in an average of 360 hours for 26 years, he said, “It has covered more than 100 million kilometers since the day it entered service. Accordingly, he traveled enough distance to circumnavigate the world 2 times. In addition to the Eastern Express, which has attracted great attention as one of the top 500 most beautiful train routes in the world, we launched the "Touristic Eastern Express" with a new approach on May 4, 29. Now it is on its way to introduce the beauties of our country in a much more comfortable way. It offers a journey from Ankara to Kars, passing through the unique history and geography of Anatolia. He sets out on the road to promote our beautiful cultural assets and settlements that sprinkle like flowers in Anatolia. "It reminds us of our history and culture," he said.
TOURISTIC EASTERN EXPRESS HAS CARRIED OVER 2019 THOUSAND PASSENGERS SINCE 66
“Touristic Eastern Express; Minister Uraloğlu said, "It offers a unique tour and landscape feast with a journey of 180 hours and 34 minutes, with 30-minute stops in İliç, Divriği and Sivas, in the direction of Kars-Ankara." It provides a high quality, different holiday option to passengers of all ages. "More than 2019 thousand of our citizens have traveled since it was first launched in 66," he said.
IT WILL PERFORM 84 TRIPS THIS YEAR
Minister Uraloğlu, in the new season starting today; He underlined that a total of 42 flights will be operated, 42 in the Ankara-Kars direction and 84 in the Kars-Ankara direction, and said, “We will also organize additional flights for special occasions such as holidays, semesters and New Year's Eve. During this period, we will serve approximately 13 thousand travel enthusiasts and make their dreams come true. By the way, I would like to point out this as well. As you know, our citizens have a lot of interest in the Touristic Eastern Express. Therefore, they may have difficulties in finding tickets, and this especially happens on our trains departing from Ankara to Kars. However, we have return trains departing from Kars towards the Mainland on the same route. And since the demand is slightly less, it is partly easier to obtain tickets in this direction. Our citizens can set off from Ankara by train and return from Kars by other modes of transportation, or they can do the same by first going to Kars and then returning to Ankara by train. "Let's share this information with you," he said.
TOURISTIC EASTERN EXPRESS OFFERS AN EVENT THAT MATCHES TURKEY'S NEW FACE AND VISION
Minister Uraloğlu said, “In fact, the Touristic Eastern Express offers an event that coincides with the new face and vision of our railways, and moreover, with the new face and vision of Turkey, for both our citizens and our guests coming to our country from abroad. "In addition to the Touristic Eastern Express, our work continues with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, non-governmental organizations, tourism agencies and relevant institutions on the launch of tourism-oriented trains that can be operated on new routes within the country," he said.
ALTERNATIVE TRAIN GOOD NEWS
Minister Uraloğlu also stated that he would give a new good news and said, “I would like to share a new good news with you. In order to offer our citizens an alternative train journey, we are starting the Touristic Regional Train services between Kars-Erzurum-Kars. We start ticket sales as of today. Our Touristic Regional Train; It will work on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between January 15 and February 18. Our train, with a capacity of 230 people, will make a total of 15 trips, 15 going and 30 returning, during its operating period. "It will provide a unique travel experience between Erzurum and Kars," he said.
UNTIL THE LAST 21 YEARS, RAILWAYS FALLED BEHIND THE NEEDS OF THE TIME
Minister Uraloğlu said, “As I just said, our railways carry the values that make us who we are and have made great contributions to the culture, art and social life of our country. However, the railways, which were ignored for almost half a century until the last 21 years and fell short of the needs of the age due to lack of investment, became a State Policy within transportation policies again during the AK Party Governments led by our President. We have made major investments, improvement, renewal and development moves. Thus, our railways threw away the dead soil on them. He regained the attention and trust of our citizens. Underneath this success; Our aim lies in equipping our country with high-speed train lines, building Marmaray, designing modern train stations, while protecting our existing cultural heritage. "The key lies in renewing our lines and train sets, which have been abandoned to decay, and making them modern," he said.
WE HAVE RECREATED THE SPRING WEATHER OF ATATÜRK'S PERIOD IN RAILWAYS
Minister Uraloğlu also noted that they have recreated the spring atmosphere of the Atatürk period in the railways and said, “We have recaptured that wonderful excitement. We built the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, which is the most important link of the "One Road, One Belt" initiative, which aims to revitalize the historical Silk Road. With this project, we have created the safest, shortest and most economical international railway corridor from London to Beijing with Marmaray, which enables uninterrupted railway transportation between the Asian and European continents. Our railway length, which was approximately 2003 thousand kilometers in 11; As of 2023, we have added approximately 2 thousand kilometers, 250 thousand 3 kilometers of which are YHT and High Speed train lines. We increased it to approximately 14 thousand kilometers. With our high-speed trains, we have provided comfortable, fast and modern travel services directly and indirectly to 19 provinces and almost half of our country's population. We have carried approximately 80 million passengers so far with High Speed Train. If the AK Party Governments had not invested in railways, it would not be possible to talk about the Touristic Eastern Express, innovative railways and train culture today. We have achieved such a breakthrough in the last 21 years that from now on, no one will be able to neglect the railways or attempt to stop these investments. "I wish good luck to the Touristic Eastern Express, which has started its flights again, and pleasant journeys to all our valuable passengers," he said.