Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that with the completion of the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Line, it will be a locomotive in the development of the entire region on the route and will activate the region in terms of trade and tourism, and said, "The travel time between Ankara and İzmir, which is 14 hours, will be reduced to 3 hours and 30 minutes." will fall. “We anticipate that when our line is completed, we will carry approximately 13,3 million passengers and 90 million tons of cargo annually.” said. Reminding that with the completion of the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train project, the distance from 824 kilometers with the existing railway connection will decrease to 624 kilometers, Uraloğlu said, “We have achieved 180 percent physical progress in the infrastructure works in a total of 63 kilometers, including Banaz-Eşme, Eşme-Salihli and Salihli-Manisa. . "We aim to complete part of the project in 2026 and the entire project in 2027," he said.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu made inspections to see the latest situation in the Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Project. Underlining that the earthworks, viaduct, bridge and tunnel works between Polatlı and Afyon on the high-speed train line, which is one of the most important railway projects under construction in Turkey, Uraloğlu said, “As of now, we have completed half of the 660-meter Bayat-1 Tunnel. . Likewise, work is progressing rapidly on our 2-meter-long V208 viaduct, which runs from the north of Afyonkarahisar. We will soon start superstructure works such as electrification and signaling on our Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Line. "We have achieved 1 percent physical progress in the infrastructure works in the 180-kilometer section of our line, including Banaz-Eşme, Eşme-Salihli and Salihli-Manisa, built by TCDD General Directorate." said.
“The distance from 824 kilometers will be reduced to 624 kilometers”
Stating that they aim to complete a part of the project in 2026 and the entire project in 2027, Minister Uraloğlu said that they designed 508 stations, namely Emirdağ, Afyonkarahisar, Uşak, Alaşehir, Salihli, Manisa, Muradiye, Ayvacık, Emiralem and Menemen Stations, within the scope of our 10 kilometer long project. Stating that 40,7 tunnels of 49 kilometers in length, 25,5 viaducts of 67 kilometers in length, 81 bridges, 781 culverts and 177 overpasses and 244 underpasses will be built, Uraloğlu said, “With the completion of the Ankara-İzmir high-speed train project, the distance of 824 kilometers with the existing railway connection will be 624. "It will be reduced to kilometers." he said.
''13 Million of Our People Will Directly Enjoy the Comfort of High Speed Train''
Emphasizing that the travel time between Ankara and Izmir, which is 14 hours, will decrease to 3 hours and 30 minutes, Uraloğlu said, “When our project is completed, the line length between Ankara and Izmir will be 624 kilometers.
But since our work already started after the high-speed train line to Polatlı, we express it as 508 kilometers. The design speed of the line to be used in our project, which is 508 kilometers long, is 250 kilometers. When our line is fully put into service, approximately 13 million people living in Ankara-Afyonkarahisar-Uşak-Manisa and Izmir provinces will directly have the comfort of high-speed trains. Considering the interaction with surrounding provinces such as Kütahya, the population benefiting from the YHT service will increase further. "With the comfort provided by the High Speed Train, significant advantages will be provided in travel time compared to both conventional trains and highways." he said.
“It will carry 13.3 million passengers and 90 million tons of cargo annually”
Stating that the travel time between Ankara and Afyon will decrease to 1 hour 40 minutes, between Ankara and Uşak will decrease from 6 hours 50 minutes to 2 hours 10 minutes, between Ankara and Manisa will decrease from 11 hours 45 minutes to 2 hours 50 minutes, and between Ankara and Izmir will decrease from 3 hours 30 minutes. Uraloğlu said, “We anticipate that when our line is completed, we will carry approximately 13,3 million passengers and 90 million tons of cargo annually. Therefore, it will increase the trade volume in the region by bringing Izmir, the 3rd largest city of our country with its industry, tourism potential and port, and the provinces of Manisa, Uşak and Afyonkarahisar on its route closer to Ankara.” said.
“We Invested 22 Billion Dollars in Railways in 57 Years”
Underlining that the Railways, which had been in a period of stagnation since the 1950s, became a State Policy again, as in the first years of the Republic, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Uraloğlu said, “Since 2002, we have implemented major projects to increase the freight and passenger transportation rates on the railways. We have invested 22 billion dollars in railways in 57 years. We completely renewed our existing conventional railway line. We increased our railway length from 2002 thousand 10 kilometers, which we took over in 948, to 13 thousand 919 kilometers. We built 2 thousand 251 kilometers of High Speed and Fast Train Line. We introduced our country to High Speed Train operation and made it the 6th high speed train operator in Europe and the 8th in the world. We have now turned railway travel, which was not preferred by our citizens for many years, into the first address for those who want fast and comfortable travel. "Since 2009, when high-speed trains were put into service, we have carried as many people as the population of our country, that is, 85 million passengers." He made a statement.
“Preliminary Works on the Ankara-Istanbul Super Speed Train Line have been Completed”
Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep and Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Line. HalkalıStating that they continue the construction work on high-speed train lines such as Kapıkule and approximately 3 thousand 800 kilometers of railway lines, Uraloğlu also said that they have completed the preliminary project works by putting the Ankara-Istanbul Super Speed Train Line project on the agenda. Stating that the route length of the super high-speed train line will be 344 kilometers, Uraloğlu stated that they plan to reduce the travel time to 350 minutes with trains that will reach a speed of 80 kilometers per hour.
“We Plan to Increase the Number of Passengers to 270 Million”
Stating that they have included the Northern Marmara High Speed Train line project, which will start from Gebze, pass over the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, reach Istanbul Airport and finally Çatalca, Uraloğlu continued his speech as follows:
“Our railways have caught the change required by the age and have achieved a dynamic structure. In line with our targets for 2053, we plan to increase our railway line length to 28 thousand 590 kilometers. We aim to reduce the share of freight transportation in highways from 72 percent to 57 percent, and increase the transportation share of railways from 5 percent to 22 percent. In passenger transportation, we plan to increase the annual average number of passengers from 19,5 million to 270 million. When we open our Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Line, we will be proud of successfully completing another prestige project of our country. We will turn another very large and important project for our country from a dream into reality. As I just mentioned, our Ankara-İzmir High Speed Train Line will be a locomotive in the development of the entire region on its route and will activate the region in terms of trade and tourism.”