World Bulletin/News Desk

The tender bid for the new High Speed Train Station in Turkish capital of Ankara was approved by the Turkish Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yildirim.

At the last phase of the tender, held on August 28, 2012, Turkish State Railways would call the winner of the bid Limak/Cengiz/Kolin Consortium, a joint venture of local companies, to sign an agreement.

The tender bid for Ankara High Speed Train Station project, the first to use the build-operate-transfer model, is close to the end.

Turkish Minister of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Yildirim approved the tender for Ankara High Speed Train Station, resources told AA. The only company to submit a bid at the tender to operate the station for 19 years and 7 months, Limak/Cengiz/Kolin Joint Venture, is soon to be called to sign the agreement with the Turkish State Railways.

With an estimated capacity of 50 thousand passengers a day and 15 million a year, Ankara High Speed Train Station will be built on an area of 21 thousand 600 square meters between Celal Bayar University and the present station building.

Planned in line with the national and international standards, the new station will include a passenger rest rooms, buffets; a five-star hotel on the first and second floor, a restaurant and cafés on the roof floor, and an underground parking place of 3 thousand vehicle capacity as well as perons and ticket offices.

After the displacement of the present raillines, a total of 420-meter raillines, 6 for high speed trains, 4 for conventional trains and 2 for suburban trains, will be built as to enable 12 high speed trains to edge in with the station at once.

Projected to have an underground connection and used coordinately with the present station, Ankara High Speed Train Station will have a tunnel with moving walkway from the light rail transport system Ankaray's Maltepe Station to the new station.

The project was designed with the aim of making Ankara Station and its surrounding a center of attraction as a symbol of today's technology and sense of architecture to present Turkish State Railways' new vision.

The first tender bid for Ankara High Speed Train Station project, to be built with 100-150 million dollar investment, was held on January 20, 2011 but postponed until August 28, 2012 after cancellation.