THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND RAIL FREIGHT TRANSPORT

Year 2018, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 182 - 193, 30.09.2018

Abdullah Acik , Sadik Ozlen Baser

Abstract

Purpose- The
aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the amount of cargo
carried by the railway and economic activities of Turkey, and to contribute to
Turkey's determination of the required investment amount by detecting the
amount of increase in potential demand of railway transport in our country's
progress in achieving the objectives of the 2023 vision.  In addition, the emphasis on railways in the
transport process will make a significant contribution to the green supply
chain objectives by reducing losses to the environment.

Methodology- In
this study, methodology consists of three methods; firstly, the amount of cargo
transported by railways and Turkey's trade volume were analyzed by econometric
techniques covering the years 1977-2016, and the coefficients were used to
forecast cargo transportation by railways in 2023; secondly, the European Union
countries that have similar nature with Turkey were tried to be determined by
hierarchical clustering analysis; and thirdly, a data envelopment analysis was
implemented to these identified countries. Because, the efficient usage of
current infrastructure is also important for planning future investment needs.

Findings- As a
result of the econometric analysis, a significant positive relationship was
found between the variables. A 1% increase in trade volume leads to an increase
of about 0.35% in freight loads on rail transport, consequently the increase in
the transported cargo was calculated as 85%. According to cluster analysis,
Turkey was placed in a group which included United Kingdom, France and Italy,
and was the least efficient country in the group considering the results of the
data envelopment analysis.

Conclusion- As a result of these analyzes, it was
determined that in order to effectively serve the 1.17 trillion-dollar trade
volume targeted by our country in 2023, it needed short-term
efficiency-enhancing investments and long-term serious infrastructure
investments.

Keywords

Rail freight transport, trade volume, efficiency, investment

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