Aug. 2 – Italcertifer, the independent certification company of the Italian FS Group, strengthens its presence in Turkey by winning a tender held by Turkish Railways (TCDD) for the technical certification of the Inonu-Kosekoy high speed line connecting Ankara to Istanbul. The 136 km railway needs an assessment regarding the subsystem’s Infrastructure, Energy, Control Command & Signalling (CCS), worth € 440.000. This is just the latest stage of a certification process that began in 2010 for the assessment of the Ankara-Konya tract, the first section (210 km in total) of high-speed rails activated on the Turkish network. The process later continued with the certification of the Gezbe-Kosekoy (56 km), also high-speed, the Ankara-Sinkhan (16 km), Mersin-Toprakkale and Bogazkopu-Yenica (200 km), and Irmak-Zonguldak (414 km) rails, belonging to the traditional network. The acquisitions are a result of international competitions held by Turkish Railways and direct negotiations by the Main Contractor, always in contact with established companies in the international arena, as TUV of Monaco and Rina. The set of skills offered by Italcertifer in terms of certification and processes are the key factors that allowed the Italian FS Group company to maintain and increase over time its reference role for Turkish Railways.
