Kagithane-Istanbul Airport Subway, Turkey's fastest subway, was officially put into service a short time ago. This is China's first fully automatic driverless subway to export to foreign countries.
The new metro line, which connects the center of Istanbul and Istanbul Airport, and includes Chinese-made automatic driverless trains that can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour, has been officially put into service for the public.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “This metro line with a daily capacity of 800 thousand will provide transportation from Kağıthane Station to Istanbul Airport in 24 minutes.” said.
Fully automatic driverless trains are the Chinese CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd., which signed a purchase and commissioning contract with the Turkish General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments in January 2020. It was built by the company (CRRC ZELC).
According to CRRC ZELC, the 34-kilometer metro line between Kağıthane Station in the center of Istanbul and Istanbul Airport has the fastest trains in Turkey. Vehicles running on the subway line is China's first 120 km/h automated driverless subway project for the overseas market.
A contract was signed with Turkey for 60 wagons on the 176 percent localization rate metro line.
Speaking to Xinhua, Haluk Oğuz, a management expert at the Turkish subsidiary of CRRC ZELC, said that they had delivered 40 vehicles and that the work on the other 136 units was ongoing. Oğuz added that the vehicles will be produced in the factory in Ankara.
Faruk Bostancı, Head of Administrative Affairs of CRRC Turkey, said, “As production continues, new additions to the line will increase the train frequency and provide a faster and more convenient transportation network for Istanbulites.”
Yalçın Eyigün, General Manager of Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments, praised the Chinese partner for overcoming all kinds of difficulties during the project despite the setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
CRRC ZELC has supplied more than 400 metro vehicles to Turkey in the last ten years and currently operates in its three largest cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
The official commissioning of Turkey's fastest metro is one of the typical examples for reinforcing the China-Turkey commercial cooperation. China and Turkey are member states of the G20 organization and important emerging economies of the world. In recent years, under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commercial cooperation between the two countries has steadily deepened. During the G2015 Antalya Summit in November 20, a Belt, Road and Middle Corridor harmonization memorandum was signed between the two countries, and a new page was opened in the commercial cooperation between them. Later, a series of projects such as the second stage of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train line, the Hunutlu Thermal Power Plant, and the Kazan Trona Factory were officially put into service.
Against the COVID-2020 epidemic that suddenly occurred in 19, China and Turkey cooperated extensively in providing each other with anti-epidemic materials, sharing combat experience and vaccine production, and became the two members of the G20 that achieved growth during the year. At the same time, the China-Europe freight train service, which connects the Chinese city of Xi'an to Istanbul, started to operate regularly once a week. These expeditions strengthened the consolidation of comprehensive connectivity in the Eurasian region, despite the negative effects of the epidemic.
In the period since 2021, at a time when the global epidemic has spread rapidly, regional conflicts have intensified, the global energy security crisis and high inflation pressures have increased, and global demands have been weak, the commercial cooperation between China and Turkey has nevertheless grown and demonstrated its strong resilience. In 2021, the investment of Chinese enterprises in Turkey increased by 300 percent. The total investment volume of China in Turkey has reached 3 billion USD. As of the end of 2021, the total value of the contracting contracts executed by Chinese enterprises in Turkey has reached 28 billion 480 million dollars. In the first three quarters of 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Turkey increased by 19,1 percent and reached $29 billion.
Today, the commercial cooperation between China and Turkey is developing steadily. With the investment of Turkey, global brands such as Burger King and Godiva have won the appreciation of Chinese consumers. Ice cream chain MADO has opened branches in many cities of China. Cherry, pistachio and rose water originating in Turkey are the products frequently preferred by Chinese consumers. The commercial cooperation between China and Turkey has brought happiness and benefit to the peoples of the two countries, and has strengthened the global economic revival.
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China recently ended successfully. China has embarked on its new journey to comprehensively build the socialist modern country. China emphasized that it will insist on the policy of opening up based on double gain and that it is ready to share the opportunities arising from its development with other countries. Parallel to this, Turkey is advancing rapidly to achieve the targets set in the “2023 vision” project. With the strengthening of cooperation between them day by day and the fusion of interests, a new page will be opened in the consolidation of the China-Turkey strategic cooperation, and it is considered that it will bring greater happiness to the peoples of China and Turkey.
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