Railways once again to the rescue in earthquake-hit Turkey

Published on 17-02-2023 at 05:15

The Turkish State Railways (TCDD) have evacuated close to 40,000 people from the earthquake-stricken area in Southern Turkey over the past few days, while they have also dispatched multiple freight trains with goods for the people experiencing the disaster. At the same time, ADY Container sends aid trains to Turkey via the BTK railway line.

Railways have been back in the spotlight for getting people to safety and transporting first-aid commodities from the onset of war in Ukraine one year ago. Back then, it was Ukrainian Railways working around the clock to evacuate civilians, while companies like DB, RCG, PKP, Rénfe, SNCF, Mercitalia, FS Group, and more ensured that humanitarian aid would reach Ukraine by rail.

Now, TCDD is doing the same as Ukrainian Railways, albeit from an earthquake-stricken area. The company has executed 210 evacuation trips to date, getting 39,500 citizens to other areas. On top of that, according to transport minister Adil Karaismailoglu, 33 freight trains with aid goods have reached the area already.

Meanwhile, the first repairs to the 1,275 kilometres of affected railway lines in Kahramanmaraş province have been carried out. Near Fevsipasa in Gaziantep province, repair works are also underway. The line out of the hard-hit port city of Iskenderun in Hatay province is still in operation, enabling citizens to reach Adana, Mersin and Konya.

ADY Container contributes via rail

Apart from TCDD, ADY Container is also joining the support wave for the disater-hit area in Turkey. The company from Azerbaijan collected humanitarian aid goods at the Bilajari railway station, which where then loaded on 25 containers. The company dispatched a freight train that will transport those containers via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line.