Foreigners who are used to a variety of options for travelling around their native country bought real estate in Turkey and moved here for a long time (for several months or for permanent residence). However, they are confused by the country’s underdeveloped transport system. For example, moving through Turkey by cars and buses. If you needed to get somewhere urgently, you had to fly by plane, but airports are not everywhere.
Foreign nationals were also dissatisfied with the lack of social infrastructure, such as parks, sports grounds, etc. This problem was challenging in some resort towns. Nevertheless, the situation is changing for the better.
Many transport projects have been launched or commissioned in Turkey over the past year. This process has accelerated after the presidential elections.
It should be pointed out that after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won the presidential election, he announced a change in the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers. For example, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, the new Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, took office and announced the department's plans and the amount of financial injections into projects.
Content:
- A new era in transport: car communication
- Metro and inner-city routes
- More airports
- Railways are in the spotlight
- Logistics
- A new era in communication
- Social infrastructure
A new era in transport: car communication
The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure will continue to invest in the construction of roads, railways, air transport, and communication infrastructure. Railway connection is a priority of this development.
Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stressed that the priorities of his department is to complete the construction of the following key highways: Aydin–Denizli, Ankara–Kirikkale, Antalya–Alanya, and Başakşehir–Nakkaş.
The country will have built 1,760 kilometres of new roads by 2028 and 3,767 kilometres between 2029 and 2035, which will provide a faster and more comfortable connection between the districts.
There is one of the most important projects that Turk.Estate mentioned in its articles in addition to apartments in Turkey. It is a highway in the North Marmara region (Izmit-Akyazi), with a total length of almost 400 kilometres. 409 bridges, 10 tunnels, and 69 viaducts will be built here. The new motorway will facilitate and speed up access to the neighbouring provinces of Istanbul and reduce traffic on other roads.
The expressway between Antalya and Alanya is a key point. On April 27, it became easy to get from Antalya to Mersin, as the last 3 tunnels and 2 viaducts between Mersin and Aydincik were put into operation. This allows everyone to reach Antalya by car in about 5 hours.
The Turkish government's plans to achieve the so-called zero emissions in the transport sector by 2053 are also aimed at protecting the environment. A lot of resources are directed to create new intelligent and environmentally sustainable transport methods, with an emphasis on modern requirements for environmental protection.
By the way, many have heard about the production of Turkish electric cars. Charging stations for such means of transport are gradually appearing all over the country. The first Turkish provider of this type of service, Esarj, will have built 1,000 charging stations in the country by the end of 2023.
It is also planned to reduce the number of papers required for moving on roads: Intelligent Transportation Systems (AUS) applications will become widespread, and transportation permits will be much easier to process and digitize.
Metro and inner-city routes
The metro is underway in Turkey. It is especially important for such a large metropolis as Istanbul, as its population is steadily approaching 20 million.
Over the past year, the metro has successfully connected both the city's airports with the centre — Sabiha Gökçen and the New Airport (which replaced the Atatürk airport).
Istanbul also has a ferry crossing and cable cars.
Some other cities are either discussing the construction of a metro or actively building it, for example, Mersin. The authorities promise to open the first metro line in this coastal city in 2023. Its length will be 13.4 kilometres, with 11 stations. It starts from the municipality of the Mezitli district.
The new metro is planned to be equipped with Smart City technology and an automated control system.
More airports
A total of $3.2 billion is planned to be invested in new airports and in expanding and improving existing ones. The number of these vehicles in Turkey will increase to 61 in the nearest future.
The Çukurova Regional Airport, currently under construction (near Mersin), is scheduled to be completed as soon as possible, as it is one of the most anticipated projects in Turkey. It will make it easier to fly to Mersin. People arriving here have to fly to Adana, which is about 70 kilometres away. It is also planned to commission Bayburt, Gümüşhane and Yozgat airports as soon as possible, which are underway. It should be noted that these three airports are expected to open before the end of 2023. By the way, the Çukurova airport has successfully accepted the first trial flight.
The built air hubs are also being scaled up. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced that it is ready to provide Fraport TAV Antalya Investment, Construction and Operations (FTA) with financing of €140 million for investments in Antalya Airport. This money will make it possible to complete a new airport infrastructure, improve energy efficiency, and implement eco-friendly initiatives, including a local solar power plant. The second airport in Antalya, Gazipaşa (Alanya), is also being expanded and improved.
Railways are in the spotlight
Until recently, Turkey could not be proud of its railway connection. However, in recent years, this segment of the transport sector has been developing so intensively that the country has a great chance to turn into a railway logistics hub, including a trade one. This may attract additional private investment.
As part of the State Programme to turn Turkey into a major railway logistics base, the share of railways in transport investments will be increased to 60% in 2023.
Railway lines are being built quickly. 4,244 kilometres of high-speed train lines (YHT) and 545 kilometres of conventional train lines are planned to be built in the nearest future.
Such major railway lines as Izmir–Ankara, Halkali–Kapykule, Istanbul Airport–Çatalca, Adana–Toprakkale–Bahçe–Nurdağı–Başpınar, Bandirma–Bursa–Osmaneli, Adana–Mersin, Sivas–Erzincan, Yerkoy–Kayseri, Bursa–Gemlik, Murshitpynar–Sanliurfa, Aliaga–Çandarli–Bergama, Selçuk–Partners–Aydin, Aydin–Denizli, Çetinkaya–Malatya, and some others will have been launched by 2018. However, this is an incomplete list.
As for high-speed trains (YHT), such railway arteries connect many major cities, primarily Ankara with some key localities. One of the most important future routes of YHT is Ankara–Istanbul: it is planned to be put into operation before 2028.
Here are a few lines that have been commissioned or are about to be put into operation:
• The Ankara-Izmir route is more than half completed;
• The Ankara-Sivas railway line was completed and free for some time. The route was opened on April 26, 2023, and with its launch, the travel time by rail from Ankara to Sivas was reduced from 12 to 2 hours;
• Bursa will also be included in YHT;
• The Kayseri-Ankara route is also important.
In total, the YHT high-speed electric train network will cover 52 cities. Recently, only 8 localities had such a transport connection.
The share of rail freight traffic, amounting to 4% with 38 million tons of cargo per year, will have reached 11.24% (146 million tons) by 2028, 20.12% (306 million tons) by 2035, and 22% (448 million tons) by 2053.
The share of railway passenger transport, amounting to 1% with 19 million passengers per year, will have reached 4.15% (97.9 million passengers) until 2028 and 5.31% (145.67 million passengers) until 2035. The trains produced by TÜRASAŞ will continue to be improved.
Logistics
A little bit about logistics: the number of logistics centres in Turkey will double from 13 to 26. The country’s main industrial and commercial zones, major ports and important land border crossings are planned to be connected by multimodal boot transport corridors to tie the Black Sea region with the southeast and the Mediterranean.
The Istanbul Canal, which is an alternative to the Bosporus, is also important. It will expand economic cooperation with other countries.
A new era in communication
The problems with mobile communication and the Internet, which many immigrants complain about, may soon be solved. One of the key goals in this direction is the "100 mBit per second to every home" programme. The country's authorities plan to continue developing the Internet infrastructure based on international standards. 100% coverage of the population will be provided with 5G technology. 6G technology is also being discussed to be launched in the country.
The planned volume of investments in communications is $67 billion. By the way, thanks to the expanding satellite communications system, Turkey plans to become one of the 10 largest satellite operators in the world.
Finally, Turkey's first domestic and national satellite TÜRKSAT 6A will be launched into space in 2023.
Social infrastructure
One can talk about this segment for a long time: hospitals, schools, kindergartens, and social institutions near development projects in Turkey are being built all over the country. By the way, one of the most significant news of recent weeks is that the elderly will have access to medical care at home.
The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has announced a large landscaping programme, including in settlements. It was launched in 2003.
The Forest of the Nation project was launched in 2021. As part of this programme, it is planned to create 81 national parks in each province. In 2023, such national parks will open in the provinces of Adana, Antalya, Artvin, Bilecik, Çanakkale, Eskişehir, Giresun, Isparta, Burdur, Istanbul, Yalova, Kahramanmaraş, Mersin, Mugla, Samsun, and Trabzon. There should be 19 by the end of this year. This project is being implemented in the former Atatürk airport in Istanbul.
Such national parks will become not only a place for walking and communicating with nature, but also multifunctional areas in off-plan projects in Turkey for a wide variety of pastimes: there will be walking, running and cycling paths, areas with exercise equipment, other sports grounds, swimming pools, cafes, recreation areas, cinemas, libraries, etc.
By the way, the total area of the country's forests is 23.24 million hectares in 2023. The largest number of forest park zones is located in Antalya: 157 plots out of 1,854 forest parks of the country, or a little less than 10%.