International Railway Journal - October 2008 - (Page 25) Middle East Urban rail blooms in Anatolia The phenomenal growth of the Turkish economy in recent years has fuelled the rapid expansion of metro and light rail networks across the country. Dr Darcin Akin, assistant professor of urban transport and planning at Gebze Institute of Technology, reviews the renaissance of urban rail in Turkey and looks at the prospects for further investment. I N recent years interest in light rail transit (LRT) and metros has grown substantially in Turkish cities as demand for urban mobility has risen consistently. Last year, Turkey enjoyed economic growth of 9.9%, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Cities of more than 1 million inhabitants see light rail and metro as a sustainable means of meeting the surging demand for mobility, particularly with the recent sharp increase in fuel prices. After almost 30 years, trams returned to the streets of Istanbul in 1990, heralding the start of a revival in Turkish light rail that has continued ever since. Today light rail and metro systems are operating in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Eskisehir, Konya, Antalya, and Kayseri, while construction is underway on the first lines in Gaziantep and Adana and bidding will begin soon in Samsun. In this article, recent urban rail developments and future plans for rail developments are reviewed in eleven Turkish cities, seven of which have rehabilitated and upgraded their existing surface light rail and metro systems, while four have embarked upon construction of entirely new IRJ October 2008
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