Ersin Albuz from Turkey’s United Transport Workers’ Union (BTS) indicated to the negative role of privatizations in railway system following a train derailment that led to the killing of 24 people yesterday in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ.
As the train was heading to İstanbul from Edirne with 362 passengers, it came off the rails and culminated in 24 deaths and 300 injuries, soL News talked with Albuz regarding the recent train accident and the railway policies in the country.
Albuz said that the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) had carried out maintenance and repair services with public employees prior to the privatizations in the service, adding that it seems ambiguous whether the private firms winning the bids resort to scientific methods.
“Proper materials should be used against abrasions at culverts by considering possible rainfalls. Natural conditions should be taken into account while placing the infrastructure materials below tracks. All these lead to extra costs. We do not know whether they include such materials and costs in contracts,” he said.
‘TURKISH RAILWAYS SHOULD NOT BE PROFIT-ORIENTED’
In answer to a question if the law on “the liberalization of Turkish Railways” impacted the recent train accident, Albuz noted that a department for roads and facilities used to control the conditions of ways while another department for railway maintenance used to focus on signalization. “The mergence of these two [departments] led to a loss of concentration in this service and deteriorated working conditions,” he said, adding that the removal of road guards played a negative role.
Underlining that the assignments of officials were not carried out in accordance to a merit system but with “political criteria”, Albuz said that pro-government figures were appointed in critical posts within the railway system, adding that the accident in Tekirdağ would not have taken place if a merit system had been followed and sectorial tends had been designated properly.
Albuz concluded that the Turkish Railways should not be a profit-oriented institution, but run as a public service provider.
‘THE GUILTY IS NOT THE RAINFALL’
Construction and geological engineers from the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) also made a statement following the deadly train accident. “What leads to disasters are not natural events but submission of engineering knowledge and accumulation to daily trade,” the Chamber of Construction Engineers said.
The construction engineers indicated to some technical details that had led to the disaster, adding that examination and maintenance services must be carried out regularly for strongly equipped railways against negative elements and natural events.
Arguing that Turkish authorities deliberately distort the cause-effect relation after all disasters, the construction engineers said that a serious negligence was witnessed as required maintenance and control services had not been carried out properly. “The guilty is not the rainfall but those who constructed the structures and those who did not supervise these structures,” they noted.
‘DISASTERS CAN BE PREVENTED IF SCIENCE AND LOGIC PREVAIL’
The Chamber of Geological Engineers said that the disaster could have been prevented if scientific implementations had been carried out instead of profit-oriented policies.
The chamber called on the government to form an unbiased commission to investigate the disaster and to reveal the railway service authorities who were responsible for the murder of 24 people and hundreds of injured.
Geological engineers also indicated to the removal of railway guards due to “extra costs, who had been responsible for monitoring the security of railways until 2013. The chamber concluded that only if science and logic prevail over the country, then such disasters can be prevented in Turkey.
