Over 50,000 people are expected to use the station every day by 2023, with three island platforms serving six tracks.

The station is 395m long and 35m high, will be operated by TCDD Transport, and is built next to Ankara’s existing main station which is still in use by conventional main line and commuter trains.

The station has an area of 194,460m2, and has eight floors which consist of commercial areas, cafes, restaurants, offices, multi-purpose halls, mosques, a 1910-space car park, and a five-star hotel with 134 rooms.

Construction began in 2014, and was led by the Cengiz-Limak-Kolin consortium, which will also manage the station for 19 years and seven months under the build-operate-transfer model. Signalling for the station was developed by Tübitak Bilgem.

Around 250 high-speed, passenger, commuter, and freight trains will call at the combined conventional and high-speed station every day, which will become the national hub for Turkey’s growing high-speed network.

Turkey plans to build 3500km of high-speed track by 2023.