Plan for new high-speed rail in Istanbul waiting for approval

As Turkey continues to invest heavily in transportation projects to increase connectivity and ease traffic congestion, there is now a plan for a new high-speed railway (HSR) project in Istanbul, which will include the route between Gebze-Sabiha Gökçen Airport, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Istanbul's new airport route.

The proposed plan envisions high connectivity between the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and the new airport and has been submitted to the Higher Planning Council (YPK). The latest HSR line is projected to be 124-kilometers long and will support the rail traffic between Asia and Europe.

The Halkalı-Kapıkule High Speed Rail is expected to reduce time on the Istanbul-Edirne route to one hour, which normally takes three hours by road. This project is devised as two parts: A 150-kilometer long Çerkezköy-Kapıkule line and an 80 kilometer Halkalı-Çerkezköy line.

This line linking the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge to the new airport will continue on to the Halkalı railway station then to Bulgaria, where goods can travel without any customs restrictions according to the EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement that came into force in 1996. It will also be updated soon as Turkey and the EU will negotiate expanding the scope of the agreement on June 13.


source: Daily sabah


07.06.2017