Türkiye has launched a new rail ferry across the Sea of Marmara. Rail wagons will now be traversing the sea between the cities Bandırma and Tekirdağ. With this new service, Türkiye hopes to increase rail connectivity in the European direction.
The Erdeniz Train Ferry started operations on Friday 9 May and is an initiative of the Turkish transport ministry. It is 198 metres long, with on-board rails reaching a length of 807 metres. That provides enough capacity to take 60 wagons across the sea each trip. With 24/7 operations and an average journey time of four hours, the annual capacity of the ferry sits around 2,8 million tonnes.
According to Turkish officials, the ferry service cuts transportation time by no less than 60%. It also enables the transportation of dangerous goods, such as flammable, explosive and chemical substances, from Anatolia to the European part of the country. Those are prohibited from transiting the Marmaray Tunnel underneath the Bosporus Strait.
Middle Corridor
Providing relief for that tunnel is also an important goal of the Erdeniz ferry. It was opened in 2019 for freight traffic and remains the only direct rail link connecting the two parts of Türkiye. By now having a complementary route, Ankara hopes to improve its logistics position internationally: “With this development, our country’s position in international transportation will be strengthened, our exports will gain significant advantages and our logistics capacity will increase”, Deputy General Manager for the transport ministry Şinasi Kazancıoğlu commented.
Deputy Minister for Transport Osman Boyraz concurs, and also sees benefits for Asia – Europe traffic along the Middle Corridor. “We see the train ferry line not only as a line connecting two ports, but also as a strategic project that will accelerate regional development, facilitate our exporters’ access to international markets and strengthen our country’s logistics infrastructure. We expect all our stakeholders to embrace this project that will increase the efficiency of not only Türkiye, but also the Middle Corridor and international trade”, he said.