Türkiye to Launch High-speed Train Linking Ankara, Izmir

Turkiye’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced that the high-speed train project linking the capital Ankara and İzmir, the country’s third largest city after Istanbul and Ankara, will be operational by 2027. The new rail line will revolutionize travel time between the two cities by cutting the current 824-kilometer journey to a 624-kilometer, while slashing travel time from 14 hours to three hours and 30 minutes. Stressing the regional benefits of the new line, Uraloglu said it will give access to the train to the more than 7 million residents of Afyonkarahisar, Uşak, Manisa and İzmir provinces, The new line will have the capacity of moving approximately 13.3 million passengers and 90 million tons of cargo annually, and involve the construction of 49 tunnels spanning 40.7 kilometers and 67 viaducts, and 66 bridges stretching 21.2 kilometers.