en.Wedoany.com Reported - Turkish railway vehicle manufacturer TÜRASAŞ (Turkey Railway Vehicles Industry Inc.) has completed a prototype railway wagon for transporting truck semi-trailers. The Ankara Ministry of Transport stated that relevant tests have been initiated, with a target of producing 100 such wagons by 2026.

Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, announced that TÜRASAŞ has completed the production of a prototype wagon for transporting truck semi-trailers. Testing has commenced. The new wagon is designed to enable semi-trailers used in road transport to be directly loaded onto domestically produced freight railway wagons. TÜRASAŞ, an acronym for Türkiye Raylı Sistem Araçları Sanayi A.Ş., is a Turkish state-owned enterprise specializing in railway vehicle manufacturing.

Uraloğlu stated that the project is a first in Turkey and could usher in a new era for logistics. The Ministry of Transport indicated that once testing is completed, these wagons will be put into operation to support more efficient, economical, and sustainable logistics solutions. According to the published plan, 100 such wagons will be produced at TÜRASAŞ by 2026.

The new wagon is designed to transport truck semi-trailers via rail within an intermodal transport chain. In practice, cargo can remain inside the semi-trailer, which is then transferred onto a train for long-distance transport. Uraloğlu stated that these wagons will integrate road and rail transport into the same logistics chain: leveraging the economic and environmental advantages of rail for long-distance transport, while flexible road transport handles last-mile delivery. This model helps simplify the transfer of goods between different transport modes, promoting intermodal transport development.

Turkish authorities view this project as an effort to provide the logistics industry with a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative to long-distance road transport. Instead of traveling entirely by road, semi-trailers are loaded onto trains for the main segment of the route, thereby reducing road traffic volume, fuel consumption, and emissions. The industrial significance of the project lies in the fact that these wagons are developed using local resources and will join the national railway fleet once testing is completed.