Middle Corridor: Turkey targets 26-fold capacity increase

Turkey has launched a tender to upgrade and electrify the railway between Divriği and the Georgian border, which forms part of the Middle Corridor. By December 2030, the project is expected to increase maximum annual freight capacity from 750,000 to 20 million tonnes, a more than 26-fold increase.

According to World Bank estimates, freight transit times on the route should fall from 55 to 22 hours. The deadline for bids is 22 December, and the works are divided into three lots.

The tender was published in October as part of the Eastern Turkey Middle Corridor Railway Development Project, known by the acronym ETMIC. It is financed by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with contributions from the Islamic Development Bank and the Turkish government.

Middle Corridor: three lots of works

The contracts cover design and construction. The selected contractors will be expected to upgrade the railway and carry out signalling, telecommunications and electrification works. Construction is expected to take four years.

• The first lot covers the upgrade and electrification of 156 kilometres of railway between Divriği and Erzincan.
• The second lot includes the upgrade and electrification of 223 kilometres between Erzincan and Erzurum.
• The third lot covers the upgrade of 208 kilometres between Erzurum and Kars and the electrification of 288 kilometres from Erzurum to the Georgian border.

The track upgrade therefore ends at Kars, while electrification continues to the international border. The final section from Kars to the border is the subject of a separate project.

Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said, according to Anadolu Agency, that the substructure and superstructure of the existing railway would be renewed, alongside electrification and the installation of signalling. He said the investment would strengthen east–west rail connections and increase the corridor's transport capacity.

Separate project from Kars to the border

Uraloğlu also told Hürriyet that a separate tender had recently been launched for the Kars–Georgian border section, with financing from the Islamic Development Bank. Works on that section include completion of the second track, electrification and signalling.

The distinction between these works is important to the scope of the current tender: the railway upgrade between Erzurum and Kars is included in the third lot, but track works further towards the border are being handled separately.

Financing and targets for 2030

In December 2024, the World Bank approved financing of US$660 million, equivalent to approximately €593 million. AIIB provided an additional $250 million, around €225 million.

According to the World Bank, the modernised railway will allow diesel-powered trains to be replaced with electric trains. Shorter transit times and increased capacity are targets for December 2030, not current traffic figures.

Alongside infrastructure works, development of the route also includes agreements on organising operations on the Middle Corridor.

Source: railfreight.com