High-speed train network to expand to 52 provinces: Minister

ANKARA

Türkiye’s high-speed train network will expand to cover 52 of all 81 provinces across the country when all the projects are completed under the 2050 Transport and Logistics Master Plan, Transport Minister Abdülkadir Uraloğlu has said.

The projects include the construction of the high-speed train railway between Ankara and the western province of İzmir, the railway between the provinces of Mersin, Adana and Gaziantep, as well as a route from Istanbul’s Halkalı to the Kapıkule border crossing.

The length of Türkiye’s railway system will be increased by 28,50 kilometers, Uraloğlu said, adding that construction of 3,800 kilometers of railways is currently underway, while project work for another 5,800 kilometers of railways has been completed.

“Under our 2053 net-zero emission targets, we plan to reduce road transportation from 72 percent to 57 percent while increasing railway freight transportation from 5 percent to 22 percent. In this way, we will achieve a significant reduction in carbon emissions,” the minister also said.

The share of railways in freight transport, which presently stands at 4 percent, will be increased to 11 percent in 2029, according to Uraloğlu.

The minister also noted that Türkiye has invested 880 billion Turkish Liras in its railways over the past 21 years.

The length of the country’s railway network increased from 11,000 kilometers in 2003 to 14,000 kilometers in 2023, Uraloğlu said.