Let\'s Change Our Perspective on Rail Systems

Something has become a habit in Turkey. We remember the necessity of some of the works we will do only when a disaster happens to us, and then we try to fulfill them. However, these studies are not long-term. Sometimes we put these things aside until the next disaster.

Just like earthquakes, we remember environmental problems when forest fires, floods and landslides occur.

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One of the most important issues in the world right now is to prevent carbon emissions in the name of a livable environment. For this, some studies are carried out especially in the field of transportation. Some countries have serious studies on this issue. We will address these in the next sections of our article.

Rail systems have been playing the role of the main backbone in many cities of the world, especially in urban transportation for years. The European Commission declared 2021 as the European Year of Rail Systems to emphasize the importance of rail systems. The international umbrella organization of urban transportation, International Public Transport Association (UITP), on the other hand, carried out special studies in the field of rail systems in 2021 and continues to do so.

Metro, tram and suburban lines are of vital importance in the urban transportation ecosystem. Especially when we consider the needs of our cities that have transformed and changed after the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic; It has emerged that we need more urban rail systems.

We would like to share the following information with you.

The Tokyo subway system carries 3.5 billion passengers annually. This figure is equal to half of the world's total population.

With more than 10 billion passengers annually in Europe, light rail systems carry 10 times more passengers than airlines in Europe.

There are 389 trams and light rail systems in the world. More than half (204) of these are located in Europe.

Between 2000 and 2017, 75 new metro lines were put into service, mostly in Asia.

-The 10 metro systems carrying the most passengers are respectively: Tokyo, Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, New York, New Delhi, Guangzhou, Mexico City and Hong Kong.

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Rail systems such as subways, trams and suburbs, which relieve urban traffic, protect the environment with energy efficiency and less carbon emissions.

Yaşar University Head of Energy Systems Engineering Department Prof.Dr. Arif Hepbaşlı said that approximately 428 thousand passengers who use the subway or suburban system every day instead of cars in İzmir, knowingly or unknowingly, saved 53 thousand trees, which are 5 times more than the trees in Kültürpark.

Hepbaşlı says: “When you look at international standards, we see that the use of trams reduces carbon emissions by almost half compared to buses. For example, while the carbon emission per passenger per kilometer for the tram is 42 grams, this rate rises to 69 grams for a bus and 183 for a car with a large engine volume. Electric trams, on the other hand, mean zero pollution. The tram is the best option for transporting people in densely populated areas, and it is three times more energy efficient than buses. Zero emissions when we turn to 100 percent renewable energies.”

It is easy to draw the following conclusion from all this: Tramway, which is an attractive transportation method with its environmentalist aspect, should be expanded in cities.

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According to the researches, the most environmentally friendly means of transportation was the tram.

Carbon dioxide emissions per passenger per kilometer;

- 42 grams for the tram

- 65 grams for the subway

- 69 grams for the bus

- 110 grams for a gasoline small model vehicle

- 133 grams for a gasoline medium vehicle

- 183 grams for a gasoline large model vehicle.

Europe saw the danger a quarter of a century ago. According to Article 4 to 1 of the 1992 European Urban Specification, “Slowly but surely the automobile is killing a city. In the 2000s, we will choose either the city or the car; because the two will not be together”.

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The Netherlands started to power its rail systems from wind.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the largest railway company in the Netherlands, came together with the energy company Eneco in 2015 to reduce carbon emissions in the country and announced that by 2018, all the energy used by the rail systems in the country would be met from renewable sources. As a result of the works progressing much faster than planned, in 2016, 75% of the electricity of the rail systems in the country was obtained from wind energy, and as of January 1, 2017, this rate reached 100%, and the Netherlands has achieved its target one year earlier than expected.

Carrying 600,000 passengers a day, NS consumes 1.2 billion kWh of energy annually.

Many countries in the world and in Europe are working hard to achieve what the Netherlands did.

I'm sure Turkey has also accelerated its work on this issue.

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However, I would like to give an example of Trabzon. I need to explain the point of view of this event in our country.

Trabzon, a port and trade city, has been waiting for a railway for more than 150 years and a light rail system for about 20 years.

Trabzon-Erzincan Iron Road In the first years of the Republic, even a law was enacted for lu.

You can find our work called 'A Railway Story from Past to Atiye, Silver Pickax', in which we wrote down what happened in this process.

When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, struck the first pick for rail systems in Samsun Çarşamba in 1924, it was as if he saw the future. However, the state administrators who came after him unfortunately preferred road transport for investments. Rail system investments were pushed aside.

Because of this point of view, Trabzon has not been able to get what it wants for years.

As it is known, in February 2001, Trabzon Mayor Asım Aykan and Canada's SCN Lavalin International Inc Engineering Vice President Ati Minchev took the first step towards the development and implementation of the light rail public transportation system in the city of Trabzon and its immediate surroundings, at the Trabzon Zorlu Grand Hotel in February 2001. and put their signatures on the prepared protocol.

Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Although Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüoğlu first put forward the condition of '17 thousand passengers at peak hour', he started work for the Light Rail System Project towards the end of his term.

The Light Rail System stood out as the most important of the vision projects of the newly elected Trabzon Metropolitan Mayor Murat Zorluoğlu.

Instead of building the Light Rail System, they modernized the vehicles in the minibus system. They presented it to the public as if it was a huge project. The Light Rail System project is still waiting.

Who cares about carbon emissions, the environment or the comfort of the passenger...

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According to TCDD data, the Ottoman state laid 4 thousand 559 kilometers of rail. In the 17 years after the proclamation of the Republic, 4,078 kilometers of railways were added to this figure. During the AK Party government, the total railway network was increased to 12,803 km. 1213 km of this is YHT (High Speed ​​​​Train) line.

At least one of the metro, light rail, tram, funicular and suburban systems is used in 12 cities in Turkey.

Our provinces using the rail system are Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, Bursa, Eskisehir, Kayseri, Samsun, Konya, Antalya, Gaziantep, Adana and Izmit.

While more than one type of rail system is used in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Bursa, only the metro is used in Adana, and only trams are used in all our remaining cities (Eskişehir, Kayseri, Samsun, Konya, Antalya, Gaziantep, Izmit).

Balikesir, Mersin, Diyarbakir and Erzurum are among the cities where a rail system is planned to be established.

Most of the cities in Turkey are condemned to live away from the rail systems. However, this can be overcome with projects specific to cities.

Today, airlines are generally preferred because of their comfort and time savings. However, we can offer this with light rail systems. Rail systems should not be viewed only in terms of 'Profit' or 'Loss' in an economic sense. We need to think about "Environment", which is one of the most important issues, and "A Livable World".

While the Netherlands invests heavily in rail systems and gets all its energy from wind energy, why are we still condemned to dolmuş systems? Therefore, we must change the perspective on Rail Systems and accelerate investments in this area.