Turkey expands high‑speed rail network with new Ankara‑Samsun, Halkalı‑Kapıkule and Ankara‑İstanbul lines

Turkey’s transport ministry announced major progress on several high‑speed rail projects. The Ankara‑Kırıkkale‑Çorum‑Samsun line is 25 % complete on the Delice‑Çorum section and is expected to cut the Ankara‑Samsun travel time to 2½ hours, carrying up to 12 million passengers and 14 million tonnes of freight annually.

The 229‑km Halkalı‑Kapıkule corridor, a key link of the “Orta Koridor”, has entered its final test‑run phase. When completed, passenger travel between Istanbul and the Turkish‑Greek border will fall from four hours to 1.5 hours and freight time from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours, with annual capacity rising to roughly three million passengers and 9.5 million tonnes of cargo.

A separate “Super Fast Train” project will build a dedicated line from Ankara through Akyazı to Istanbul, aiming to reduce the journey to 80 minutes after a ten‑year construction period.

The Ankara‑Yerköy‑Kayseri high‑speed line is 42 % finished and is slated for completion by March 2028, linking Kayseri to the national network. All projects are presented as strategic infrastructure that will strengthen Turkey’s role as a logistics hub between Europe and Asia.