Kayseri, Turkiye, 10 September 2023 – The first of the six tramway vehicles, financed by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), has arrived in the city of Kayseri and will be put into operation by the metropolitan city’s municipality.

Each vehicle, bearing the colors of the city of Kayseri, has a 300-passenger capacity and can travel at a maximum speed of 75 km per hour along a 5.52 km long new urban railway line section connecting the Talas-Mevlana Mass Housing and the City Center.

The domestically manufactured vehicles are part of IsDB’s EUR 30 million financing for the Kayseri Light Railway Project through IL Bank in cooperation with Turkiye’s Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change (EUCC).

The project serves as a complementary component to the “Anafartalar-YHT Gar Railway Project” which was recently completed by the country’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. It includes building a new urban light railway line comprising many components of electrical and mechanical equipment as well as electricity and communication systems.

Located in central Turkiye, the city of Kayseri is home to more than 1.4 million residents and is considered one of the major industrial hubs in the country where rapid development in industry, trade, and transportation have led to increased economic activities leading to an intense demand for transportation in the eponymous capital city of the province.

Once fully operational in a few months, the IsDB-funded project will contribute to achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the city including SDG11, SDG13, and SDG17.

The project will also improve land traffic safety by contributing to a reduction of road accidents by 25 percent, reduce travel time for passengers by 40 percent, and cut down on CO2 emissions.

The Islamic Development Bank has so far provided US$1.1 billion of financing for upgrading Turkiye’s national railway transport including the expansion of green high-speed trains running between Istanbul-Ankara-Konya; manufacturing of electric locomotives and improving the country’s railway lines in close cooperation with the State Railways of the Republic of Turkiye (TCDD).