TURKEY's prime minister, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, transport minister Mr Binali Yildirim, and the general manager of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Mr Suleyman Karaman officially opened today the high-speed line linking the capital Ankara with Konya. Passenger services, comprising four trips a day initially, will start tomorrow with a journey time of 1h 30min initially, reducing to 1h 15min when the track beds in.
TURKEY's prime minister, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, transport minister Mr Binali Yildirim, and the general manager of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Mr Suleyman Karaman officially opened today the high-speed line linking the capital Ankara with Konya. Passenger services, comprising four trips a day initially, will start tomorrow with a journey time of 1h 30min initially, reducing to 1h 15min when the track beds in.
The 212km line leaves the existing Ankara - Eskisehir high-speed line at Polatli and then heads south for Konya. Construction has taken four years eight months, and was completed on December 17 2010, allowing nearly eight months for testing and commissioning. The project has cost Lira 1bn ($US 596m).
The line plugs an important gap in the Turkish rail network. Meanwhile, Suleyman said at the opening that the new high-speed line being built from Ankara east to Sivas will be completed at the end of 2015.
