TCDD General Manager Kurt responded to the criticism of MPs in the Parliament that the institution was making losses

The accounts and balance sheets of TCDD and its subsidiaries were discussed in the Turkish Grand National Assembly Public Economic Enterprises (SOE) Commission. TCDD General Manager Veysi Kurt, while responding to the questions and criticisms of the members of parliament, said that they are trying to bring the railways, which have been neglected for about fifty years, to the level of modern civilizations.

Answering the MPs' question, "Is the Ankara-Istanbul YHT line leaving the high-speed train concept?" Kurt said, "We currently have a line length of approximately 533 kilometers between Ankara and Istanbul. Approximately 80 percent of this line operates at a speed of 250 kilometers, but as you know, after Gebze, it has already become completely Marmaray, and since it is in the city, there is a speed slowdown."

IT WILL BE REDUCED TO 3 HOURS 37 MINUTES

Kurt said, "With the completion of our 2 tunnels, we will reduce the travel time between Ankara and Istanbul from 4 hours 7 minutes to 3 hours 37 minutes."

AKP PROVINCIAL CHAIRMAN ALSO CALLED

Regarding the criticisms about the railway line "dividing the city" in Burdur, Kurt said, "I mean, indeed, we received such a request from our Burdur AK Party provincial chairman, our Burdur deputies, and the municipality, in the form of 'this place divides the city a bit'." Kurt said that if there is something aesthetic, they can reconsider it, but they take the safety of the nation into consideration.

400 MILLION DOLLARS OF DAMAGE

Regarding the opposition MPs' criticism that the railways are making losses, Kurt said, "Currently, we are getting about 30 percent cheaper in both freight and passengers, and when we pull this off, the market immediately becomes 30 percent more expensive. In other words, consider it as 60 billion, if it increases by 30 percent, there is a loss of 15 billion dollars in terms of the macroeconomy, in terms of the country's economy. In other words, the state is actually enduring a loss of 400 million dollars to us, my dear deputies, and we are leaving the country with a macroeconomic loss of approximately 15 billion dollars." "We save it from harm," he said.

'AN RESPECTFUL MAN'

Stating that the costs should be endured a little, Kurt continued as follows:

"I really cannot stand that the railways are making losses, I work day and night twenty-four hours a day, my dear deputy, I don't even go home. Well, isn't a man who does not go home this much and works this much a somewhat respectable man at the end of the day? We have passed this, I mean I say this sincerely and sincerely my dear deputy, I really love my country, we really love the railways, we believe that the railways are a very strategic institution for this country, start with all our heart, we really spend our night We add it to our daily routine, for the slightest incident, we either go to prison or we are prosecuted for years. Despite this, we work twenty-four hours a day.”