Explaining that the Combined Freight Transport Regulation, which is expected to come into force in 2020, the services in this field will be framed with a legal document, the processes will be facilitated and financial incentives will be given, Cem Murat Yıldırım, General Manager of Dangerous Goods and Combined Transport Regulation, said that this study, which is a first in Europe, He says he will set an example. Yıldırım also states that combined transportation will be supported with new projects developed in the field of Ro-Ro, rail and maritime transport. 

Could you tell us about the steps taken in the field of combined freight transportation from past to present? The concept of combined transport is quite new in the field of national and international transport. This concept came to the fore especially in the early 90s, when global warming, traffic jams, environmental and noise pollution began to increase, awareness in these areas developed, and the concept of sustainable development came to the fore. In our country, especially at the beginning of the 2000s, when the EU harmonization process started to accelerate, we see that the awareness and awareness of intermodality started to increase. The legal and administrative regulations regarding the development of combined transportation services in the world are based on the studies carried out within the European Union and United Nations European Economic Commission. The European Union defines combined transportation with the EU Directive 92/106, which our country has to harmonize in line with our candidacy status, and points out the importance of envisaging a series of incentives, including the MTV exemption for the carriers providing services in accordance with this definition. As a matter of fact, as stated in the White Paper published by the EU, 300 km. freight transfer from road to railway and seaway in 2030 and above; it is aimed that this ratio will be realized as in 2050. In order to achieve this goal, efforts are being made to structure the railway infrastructure services and operational services, which are also carried out in our country, as two separate institutions, and thus to increase the freight transportation performance of the railway. Likewise, Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) were established at EU level, which reveals the transport infrastructure and integration such as road, railway, logistics centers, sea ports, and determines the combined transport routes to be improved by investing in the future. In the upcoming period, the EU will support many projects in the field of infrastructure with approximately 400 million euros, including areas with a full combined transportation service such as sea highways. This support program is called CEF (Connecting to Europe Facility). The European Union has been providing a certain amount of financial assistance to the investors who will realize the combined transportation service for many years under the name of the Marco Polo Program in the field of combined transportation and sought the condition that the resulting service should be continuous and that a certain amount of cargo should be shifted from road to more environmentally friendly transportation modes every year. In other words, the Marco Polo Program is a private sector-centered financial aid program established for the development of environmentally friendly transportation systems to reduce congestion on the roads and supports studies and projects to encourage intermodal transportation in Europe. This Program continues under CEF. On the other hand, UN-AEK Intermodal Transport and Logistics Working Group meetings, which are a forum that allows the sharing of technical, legal and political decisions and best practices among member countries on combined transportation in the European continent, are regularly followed by our General Directorate. At the same time, the Working Group meetings were chaired by our country for 4 years. The task of the Intermodal Transport and Logistics Working Group is to promote combined/intermodal transport in 56 UN-ECE member countries, to lay the groundwork for the negotiation of multilateral legal documents on intermodal within the UN-ECE, to put forward policy recommendations for these documents and to contribute to this transport. To determine the technical standards of the terminal, infrastructure and equipment used and to ensure that they are used with maximum efficiency. In order to observe the standards of the railway lines to be used in combined transportation, the United Nations “Important It became a party to the European Agreement (AGTC) on International Combined Transport Lines and Related Equipment in 1992. According to this agreement, Haydarpaşa, Mersin, Bandırma, İskenderun, Samsun and Derince ports in Turkey are within the scope of international ports and container terminals. Our country is also among the signatory countries of the “Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Ports”, which was opened for signature at the 2nd Session of the Asian Transport Ministers Forum. UNESCAP continues its work through the Dry Ports Working Group, which was established in order to implement the said Agreement, to amend it according to current conditions, to share the best practices with other countries regarding the requirements of the Agreement, and to develop cooperation opportunities and multilateral dialogue. Dry ports, which serve as a transfer center in shifting the cargo on the road to sustainable modes of transport (railway, seaway), established in the back region of the sea ports with full capacity, and where shuttle freight trains run between the port area and the dry port, are included in the Annex to the Agreement. All logistics centers built and constructed in our country are also included in the annex of this agreement.