Railway logistics in Turkey is under pressure of two forces at the same time: Consolidation and recession.

Here are highlights of last two year in railway logistics:

• One of the oldest container lines withdrawed from Turkey.
• Another line stopped direct service from Turkey and started connected service from Italy.
• A company has stopped all activities shortly after introducing its new multimodal service.
• A logistic company stopped its container line in almost one year.
• A logistic company stopped its train after years of service and huge investment in railcars.
• A leading logistic company closed its railway deparment in Turkey
• A company which had invested in railway terminal for containers decided to reconsider railway transport.

Change is so striking that, the leading railway companies 2012 list changed almost completely. Three of those eight companies have no transport to Europe, one had been acquired. Transportation amounts stopped to be published, but it’s known that volumes changed very sharply.

Although transportation in eastward direction is less organized, a similar trend is observed there too. The closure of railway to Syria and Iraq first, and then to Gaziantep-Mardin-Nusaybin deeply affected companies which used to be very strong in that region. Some companies which mainly transport to Iraq stopped all railway activities.

Railway transport to Iran, the only railway connected neighbour country, is growing fastly. But growing caused big congestion and increased transit times sharply. A consolidation is also faced in this route, where companies with strong connections in Iran are increasing their shares.

Domestic railway transport is also under similar pressure. Construction works caused shift from rail to truck in some regions. Some companies stopped their activities. On the other hand, announcements of new investment in railway shows that some others continue to grow.

As a result of all these, many colleagues who had been working in railway logistics for years and we know from important projects, are not working in this area any more.