While the Northern Van Lake Railway Line, which has been one of the most talked about topics in Van in recent years, still maintains its silence despite all the calls, a new and remarkable proposal has been made regarding Van recently. Erdinç Peker, a businessman who put forward the idea of a railway project between Van and Hakkari for Van, whose dream of the Northern Van Lake Railway never came true, said that the railway project should not be on the agenda only in Hakkari.
While significant investments have been made in terms of highways in the last 20 years in Turkey, important steps have also been taken in terms of new railways. In addition to the railway lines built all over the country, important steps were taken in the field of high-speed trains. Although road investments were made in Van in the last 20 years, projects such as Van Ring Road, Van-Şırnak Highway, and North Van Lake Railway were not realized. While the Sivas-Kars high-speed train line was included in the scope of the investment and the work was started, the expected step in this sense was not taken in Van. While the Northern Van Lake Railway line, which has been waiting for the good news for years, and the tram or trambus project, which once had a great impact on the city, could not be completed, business person Erdinç Peker, who has been mentioned frequently in recent times, made an important suggestion about the Van Hakkari Railway Line. Businessperson Erdinç Peker, who made evaluations about the project, reminded that Hakkari Chamber of Commerce President Servet TAŞ put forward such an idea in 2017 and offered to put this idea into practice.
FIRST MENTIONED IN 2017
Mentioning the importance of the railway project between Van and Hakkari for both cities, Businessperson Erdinç Peker said, “In 2017, Hakkari Chamber of Commerce President Servat Taş had this idea. Mr. Taş had a speech saying 'What would happen if there was a train connection between Van and Hakkari'. Likewise, it is a project supported by the Governor of Hakkari. However, the project stage has not been started yet and it is in the idea stage. The railway will connect to Geçitli from Durankaya and to Van from Geçitli to Van. This is how the route was determined. It is a line of about 100 kilometers. In this sense, it reduces the Van-Hakkari road to 1 hour and 30 minutes.” He used his expressions.
PEKER: CONTRIBUTES SERIOUSLY TO VAN AND HAKKARI
Emphasizing that 32 tunnel roads and Güzeldere tunnel will be lost in Hakkari with the project, Peker said that the train journey is much more comfortable. Peker continued his words as follows: “The establishment of such a line opens different doors, apart from making it easier to connect to the surrounding provinces as well as the transportation between the two cities. For example, it solves the problem of transportation other than passengers. The biggest input cost in the industry is transportation. When you look at the transportation by rail and road, approximately 1/3 of the railroad is saved compared to the highway. This is very important for Van. Of course, it also contributes to Hakkari province. There are serious mines there. These mines come by road. If they can direct the mines to the train, they will have a very serious profit.”
WITH THIS PROJECT, THE COST OF INPUT LOWERS…
Emphasizing that the railroad is of great importance for freight transportation, Peker said: “When vegetables and fruits go from Van to Hakkari, they will go very cheaply and in a very short time. There are problems with the transportation of fruits and vegetables. Deterioration and decay occur in products that are not delivered on time. Therefore, there will be gains due to both quick delivery and transportation savings. In other words, when the input endowment decreases, there will be a decrease in the selling cost. Of course, the products that seem expensive to us are even more expensive to Hakkari. When transportation is facilitated, they will consume cheaper products.”
“THE AIM IS TO THINK ECONOMY FOCUSED”
Evaluating the current situation of the railway project, Peker stated that there is no study. Emphasizing once again that the idea is very important, Peker said, “If this project is realized, it will also be connected to the North Anatolian Railway in the future. It will go from Hakkari to Van, from Van to Tatvan, from Tatvan to Diyarbakir and from here to other routes. So we're going to connect to the economy of all of them. The aim is not to think about passenger transportation, but to think purely on economy. Materials will be able to come here from Ankara in one go. Also, Van is very important in its industry. When we wanted the materials in the industry from outside, we were faced with the transportation problem.”
VAN AND HAKKARI SHOULD KEEP THIS ISSUE ON THE AGENDA
Finally, Peker completed his sentences and said: “We are exchanging ideas with non-governmental organizations. But the goal is to create public opinion. We need to raise our voices for the idea to mature. We should also convey this to the Ministry of Transport. This project is not a very costly project either. The railroad was very important in the First World War. It is equally important now. At that time, all shipping was done by rail. Now we want to bring the transportation business to the economy. With this project, all the surrounding cities will come closer to each other. Let's call out to the governors of both provinces from here. Let them take the necessary action. Likewise, the Chambers of Commerce should also put this issue on the agenda. Make the necessary feasibility studies. Even if these are done, it will make a serious contribution to the region. Both cities should embrace this. This should not only be on Hakkari's agenda, but it should be brought up frequently in Van."
Source: Şehrivan Newspaper
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