Turkey's first domestic and national electric mainline locomotive E5000 landed on the rails upon the command of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the mass opening ceremony in Eskişehir. According to the statement made by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, a live connection was made to the TURASAŞ (Turkey Rail System Vehicles) Factory at the collective opening ceremony organized by President Erdoğan in Eskişehir. Stating that the design, manufacture and assembly of the E5000 and its sub-systems have been completed and testing and certification has begun, President Erdoğan said, “We will manufacture 10 locomotives that we will need in 500 years.” said. Putting the E5000 on the rails with a live connection, President Erdoğan named the locomotive “Eskişehir 5000”.
Investing in rail systems
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez, together with Eskişehir Governor Erol Ayyıldız, made inspections at TÜRASAŞ Eskişehir Factory. Before the official ceremony, the two ministers conducted the final test of the domestic mainline locomotive E5000 before it landed on the tracks.
Minister Varank, who received information about the locomotive from the authorities, stated that rail systems are an area that stands out in the economic field all over the world, and that Turkey also invests in this area, "We are investing more in rail systems, especially with the acceleration of policies towards carbon-free transportation." he said.
Designed from the ground up
Minister Varank stated that this locomotive was produced with the synergy of TÜBİTAK UTE and TURASAŞ, that is, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, and said, “With this project, an electric mainline locomotive is designed from scratch for the first time in Turkey. Train control systems and software are developed locally and nationally. In addition, it is powered by an electric motor with a power of 5 megawatts. We see that such a large engine is produced for rail systems for the first time in Turkey.” used his statements.
“We did it”
Minister Varank said, “We did it, our engineers, our technicians, our institutes, our companies did it. Türkiye has the ability to do anything when it believes, we showed it at Togg. We showed it at TCG Anadolu, we showed it at İMECE. Now we also show the E5000 electric locomotive. We will continue to build Turkey's 100th anniversary together with our nation. It will be the important insignia of the Turkish Century.” he said.
Foreign dependency in technology
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Dönmez, stated that the electric locomotive was developed with great effort and superior success and said, “We are now able to manufacture the products we have purchased from abroad with our own domestic national resources. This is extremely gratifying. We have always emphasized foreign dependency in energy. We have stated that we are doing our best for independence, but there are other areas that we are dependent on. Especially in technological products.” said.
Minister Dönmez explained that they have recently made great efforts to break foreign dependency in technology and said, "I would like to thank all my friends who contributed." he said.
“The design is 100 percent ours”
TUBITAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal stated that it is possible to obtain such technologies by means of supply method and technology transfer, “But the most critical thing here is design. The design is 100 percent ours. Likewise, the power system, which is its most important component, was developed by TÜBİTAK RUTE.” he said.
“Able to cross borders”
Reminding that Eskişehir 5000 received TSI certificate, Prof. Mandal said:
“This is one of the most important achievements of the technology we have developed. In other words, a journey that starts from here will be able to continue to Europe. So it's pretty valuable. In other words, the recognition and certification of this technology has been obtained not only in this country's own domestic routes, but also in terms of mutual mutual recognition of foreigners."
100 years of longing
TÜRASAŞ General Manager Mustafa Metin Yazar emphasized that a 100-year longing has come to an end and said, “We have produced our first national electric train. We have reached these days with the special efforts of TÜBİTAK. We have a few more important projects ahead of us. The most important thing right now is the high-speed train. We aim to land the prototype exactly like this by October 29.” said.
TÜBİTAK RUTE and TÜRESAŞ developed
Eskişehir 5000, designed by TUBITAK Rail Transport Technologies Institute (RUTE), analysis and subsystem production completed, was developed in accordance with the needs of the Republic of Turkey State Railways (TCDD).
The most powerful electric motor
Eskişehir 5000 has the first domestically designed vehicle body, the first bogie, and the first train control and management system for mainline locomotives. In addition, Eskişehir 5000 has the highest-powered electric motor designed locally for rail vehicle applications. The highest power traction converter, traction transformer and auxiliary power unit designed locally for rail vehicle applications are among the capabilities of the locomotive.
Able to carry cargo and passengers
The 5 megawatt (MW) locomotive draws attention with its European Union Interoperability Technical Specification (TSI) certificate. Able to transport cargo and passengers. Eskişehir 5000 stands out from its peers as a new generation electric mainline locomotive with a speed of 140 km/h.
Opening the door to export
The domestic development of critical sub-components such as the Train Control and Management System, Traction System, Traction Transformer, Traction Motor, Traction Converter, Traction Control Unit and Auxiliary Power Unit in the Eskişehir 5000 and main line locomotives also opens the door to exports. All the main components developed for the E5000 are important in that they have critical technology that can be exported as separate products. These products, TCDD Transportation Inc. It will also be used in the existing locomotives within the scope of both spare parts and modernization.
Contribution of 4 billion euros
Turkey will be able to produce 10 locomotives that it needs in 500 years, with the locomotive realized in cooperation with TÜBİTAK RUTE and TÜRASAŞ. In this way, at least 2 billion euros will contribute to the reduction of the current account deficit. In addition, with the locomotive designed by Turkish engineers, the maintenance and repair times of critical systems will become much shorter. Maintenance and repair costs will be reduced much less with the created ecosystem.