Turkey Inaugurates New High-Speed Rail Line Connecting Istanbul, Sivas

Turkey inaugurated a new high-speed train line on Saturday that connects Istanbul with the central Anatolian city of Sivas, marking a milestone in the country’s transportation infrastructure development. The Istanbul-Sivas rail link will cover a distance of around 700 km (430 miles) in seven hours and 18 minutes, accommodating up to 483 passengers on each train, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Osman Boyraz, Turkey’s deputy minister of transport and infrastructure, highlighted the strategic importance of the new railway at the inauguration ceremony in Istanbul. He emphasized Turkey’s significant investment in railways over the last 22 years, totaling $57 billion. These investments increased the country’s total railway line length from 10,948 km to 13,919 km, including the addition of 2,251 km of high-speed rail.

Turkey’s first high-speed rail, connecting the capital, Ankara, and Eskisehir, became operational in 2009. The line was later extended to Istanbul in 2014, creating a total route of 533 kilometers. Parts of the Ankara-Istanbul line were constructed by a consortium of Chinese and Turkish companies.

Since 2009, high-speed trains have revolutionized transportation in Turkey, serving approximately 85 million passengers, according to Boyraz.