An agreement was made with the Spanish company Thales for the upgrade project of the high speed train line ETCS between Ankara and Istanbul.

TCDD signed an agreement with Spanish Thales company for 251 million Euros to establish ETCS Level 2 and GSM-R communication system on a 20 km section of the existing high-speed train line between Ankara and Istanbul.

Increasing the distribution and supervision in the 250 km section between Sincan - Eskişehir, which is the first part of the line, was also reported to be within the scope of the project. This line is known as the first DUdUr speed train lines in Turkey.

It was learned that an agreement was signed with the contractor company Thales on February 1. In the statement from Thales, it was reported that they had previously won the tender that included ETCS Level 1, however, they undertook more than 400 km of the Istanbul - Ankara line.

The high-speed train line between Eskişehir and Gebze is currently under construction. This line is expected to open towards the end of 2014.

Source: Railway Gazette