Touristic Diyarbakır Express, which will be operated on the Ankara-Diyarbakır Railway Line, was sent off to its first voyage with a ceremony with the participation of Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, General Manager of the Republic of Turkey State Railways (TCDD) Veysi Kurt and protocol members.
Minister Uraloğlu, at the "Touristic Diyarbakır Express Farewell Ceremony", which started its first voyage this season from the Historical Ankara Train Station, said that they started the Touristic Diyarbakır Express flights in order to offer alternative routes to the "Touristic Eastern Express" concept, which passes through the unique lands of Anatolia and serves for tourism purposes. Uraloğlu emphasized that traveling with the Touristic Eastern Express has become very popular and stated that this journey, which is a favorite of travelers and photography enthusiasts, has gone beyond the borders and become a route of interest to foreign tourists. Stating that there is great interest in the express, Uraloğlu said: “There are comfortable railway routes in our country other than the Touristic Eastern Express route. High Speed Trains (YHT) reach 11 cities directly, and 9 cities indirectly via combined transportation with train or bus connections. "It is also possible to explore almost every corner of our heavenly homeland with regional and main line trains operated on our conventional lines with improved infrastructure and superstructure."
Stating that they added the "Touristic Eastern Express" services to the Eastern Express, which has attracted great attention as one of the top 4 most beautiful train routes in the world, on May 29, 2019, Uraloğlu made the following evaluation: "2023 thousand 2024 people will travel with this train in the 11-611 winter season." did. Our passengers returned with very good memories. It contributed to the economic, social and cultural life of many cities along the route. In addition, we offered another alternative to travelers by operating regional touristic trains between Kars and Erzurum during the winter season. We are adding the Touristic Diyarbakır Express to these journeys. Our Touristic Diyarbakır Express train will travel on the Ankara-Diyarbakır track with a line length of 1051 kilometers. The train consists of 180 bed and 9 dining car with a capacity of 1 people.”
WE INCREASED OUR RAILWAY NETWORK TO 13 THOUSAND 919 KILOMETERS
Uraloğlu explained that the train will depart from Diyarbakır to Ankara at 21 on Sunday, April 12.00, and that there will be a 3-hour stop in Malatya on the Ankara-Diyarbakır journey, 4 hours in Elazığ and 3 hours in Kayseri for tourism purposes on the Diyarbakır-Ankara journey. He said it would be given. Underlining that the Express will contribute to the economy of the region, especially in Malatya and Yolçatı destinations, where it will provide the opportunity to stop and visit for a long time, Uraloğlu said, "It will also strengthen cultural communication by providing the opportunity to see the historical and cultural values and natural wonders in these places along the route." he said.
Uraloğlu stated that there are train routes not only in the country but also abroad for those who love travelling, and said that reaching Europe with the Istanbul-Sofia Train is economical and comfortable. Pointing out that touristic trains offer citizens and guests coming to Turkey from abroad an event that coincides with the country's new century, Uraloğlu said, “In addition, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, non-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations, especially the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, and “Our work with relevant institutions continues.” he said.
Uraloğlu; He stated that they also put into service train lines floating in unique geographies such as the Eastern, Lakes and Southern Kurtalan expresses. Stating that they will provide many citizens, curious young people and foreign guests with the opportunity to travel on touristic trains in the future, Uraloğlu said: “If we had not invested in railways, it would not be possible to talk about touristic trains, innovative railways and train culture today. In the last 22 years, under the leadership of our President, we have created a spring atmosphere in the railways and recaptured the excitement. We have invested 22 billion dollars in railways in 57 years. 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 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. As of 2002, we have added approximately 10 thousand kilometers of railway, including 948 thousand 2023 kilometers of YHT and high-speed train lines, to the 2 thousand 251 kilometers of railway length we took over in 3. We increased our railway network to 13 thousand 919 kilometers. We introduced our country to YHT operation, making it the 6th high-speed train operator in Europe and the 8th in the world. We have carried 85 million passengers so far with high-speed trains. “We will take this rising trend even higher.”
After his speeches, Minister Uraloğlu bid farewell to the Touristic Diyarbakır Express train on its maiden voyage.