Minister Uraloğlu announces: Travel time on the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train line to change

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu made statements regarding the ongoing projects on the Ankara-Istanbul High-Speed Train (YHT) Line. He stated that with the completion of the works on the line, the travel time between Ankara and Istanbul will fall below 4 hours.

WORK CONTINUES ON TWO OF THE THREE CRITICAL BOTTLENECKS

Uraloğlu stated that there are three critical bottlenecks on the Eskişehir-Istanbul section that affect operations. Reminding that the 12-kilometer Doğançay Ripaj-1 section of these points was put into service in 2022, Uraloğlu said that work on the T26 Tunnel and the Doğançay Ripaj-2 variant is ongoing.

"TRAVEL TIME WILL DECREASE BY 30 MINUTES"

Providing information about the T26 Tunnel, Uraloğlu used the following expressions:

"Our T26 Tunnel is 5,587 meters long and is an important section that will allow us to reach a speed of 250 kilometers across the entire high-speed train line in the Alifuatpaşa-Arifiye section. Currently, it is possible to travel at a speed of 55 kilometers on the 9.2-kilometer conventional line. With the 8-kilometer new line we are building within the scope of the project, we will decommission this section. We have completed the excavation work for our tunnel. We are continuing our superstructure, electrification, and signaling works. We will finish this in the first half of 2027. Thus, we will reduce the travel time, which is currently 20 minutes, to 9 minutes."

WITH DOĞANÇAY RIPAJI-2, THE TIME WILL DECREASE FROM 23 MINUTES TO 4 MINUTES

Stating that work is also continuing on the Doğançay Ripaj-2 Project, Uraloğlu said that when this section is completed, the current 23-minute travel time will drop to 4 minutes.

Uraloğlu said, "When we finish these, we will have reached a continuous speed of 250 kilometers on the line. Thus, with a 30-minute reduction, we will have brought the time between Ankara and Istanbul to under 4 hours."