Deliktaş Tunnel

The Deliktaş Tunnel (Turkish: Deliktaş Tüneli), a.k.a. Kangal-Deliktaş Tunnel, is a railway tunnel near Deliktaş village between Ulaş and Kangal districts of Sivas Province in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It was built to shorten and to ease the ramp on the railway line connecting Sivas with Malatya and Erzincan. The construction began on November 15, 1973, however its progression was quite slow until 2003 when the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) took over the project. Although the works at the tunnel were completed in 2006, works for the infrastructure on the railway line around the tunnel began only in 2009.[1] At the end of 2011, all construction works were finished.[2][3][4] Following the installation of signalization facilities, and completing the test runs with freight trains, the tunnel was put into service in late 2012.[1][5]

Deliktaş Tunnel

Overview
Other name(s)	Deliktaş Tüneli
Location	Deliktaş, Kangal, Sivas Province, Turkey
Coordinates	39°20′02″N 37°13′29″E
Status	Operational
System	Turkish State Railways (TCDD)
Operation
Work begun	November 15, 1973
Opened	Late 2012
Operator	TCDD
Character	Single track railway tunnel
Technical
Length	5,473 m (3.401 mi)
Tunnel clearance	6.5 m (21 ft)
Width	5 m (16 ft)

Deliktaş Tunnel

Location of Deliktaş Tunnel in Turkey.

The tunnel was drilled by the New Austrian Tunnelling method (NATM). With its length of 5,473 m (3.401 mi), the Deliktaş Tunnel is Turkey's longest single track railway tunnel.[1][2][4][6] The tunnel is 5 m (16 ft) wide and has a clearance of 6.5 m (21 ft).[1][2] It is also the only railway tunnel of the country, which features built-in lighting, ventilation and firefighting facilities.[4] The automated lighting system controls tunnel lights installed at every 20 m (66 ft) through motion detectors.[7] According to official records, a total of 5,330 people worked for the construction that lasted 39 years, while eight workers died in accidents during this time.[1][2][5]

The Deliktaş Tunnel serves also to contribute to the transportation of iron ore from Divriği mine to steel works in a more economic way.[6] The tunnel helped to reduce the travel time of railbus service between Sivas and Divriği from five hours to two hours and 16 minutes.[8]

References

1. "Tünelin sonu 39 yıl sonra göründü". Sabah (in Turkish). 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
2. Aytekin, Eraydın & Hakan Kaleli (2011-06-10). "38 yılda bitirilen tünelin Başbakan'a konu olan bekçisi konuştu". Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2014-04-15.
3. "21 Başbakan eskiten tünel tamamlandı". Zaman 53 (in Turkish). 2011-12-20. Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
4. "39 yılda açılan tünel için Erdoğan'a teşekkür". Haber 7 (in Turkish). 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
5. "Tunnel to open - just 4 decades late". Hürriyet Daily News. 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
6. "Referanslar" (in Turkish). Tinsa. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
7. "Deliktaş Tüneli Aydınlatıldı" (in Turkish). TCDD. 2012-09-03. Archived from the original on 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
8. "Sivas-Divriği hattında tren seferi başladı". TGRT Haber (in Turkish). 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2014-04-15.