{"id":154317,"date":"2024-12-03T19:04:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T09:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=58308"},"modified":"2024-12-03T19:04:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T09:04:11","slug":"turkiyes-new-line-to-bulgaria-to-be-ready-by-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=154317","title":{"rendered":"T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s new line to Bulgaria to be ready by 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

The so-called Silk Railway project in T\u00fcrkiye, which will connect Halkal\u0131, near Istanbul, to Kap\u0131kule, near the border with Bulgaria, will be ready by 2028, said the Turkish minister of transport. The project will be divided into three phases, with the first one to be completed by the end of next year.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>The future Halkal\u0131-Kap\u0131kule railway will extend for 229 kilometres. The first phase of the project entails the construction of the longest section of the line: 153 kilometres between Kap\u0131kule and \u00c7erkezk\u00f6y. The second stage and third stages, the construction of the \u00c7erkezk\u00f6y-Ispartakule and the Ispartakule-Halkal\u0131 segments, should both be completed by 2028.<\/p>\n

Middle Corridor boost<\/h2>\n

Once operational, this new railway is expected to boost rail freight traffic between Asia and Europe via the Middle Corridor. The future Halkal\u0131-Kap\u0131kule stretch will also be linked to the Turkish capital Ankara. From there, the infrastructure can connect to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, stretching from Azerbaijan to T\u00fcrkiye. Thus, by 2028 it should be possible to have a seamless rail link crossing T\u00fcrkiye from east to west, which should facilitate Eurasian transport.<\/p>\n

The construction of the Halkal\u0131-Kap\u0131kule railway is financed by T\u00fcrkiye but also by European institutions including the European Development Bank. However, it is not yet clear how much the project is going to cost. Once commissioned, it is estimated that rail freight traffic along this axis will increase from 1.53 million tonnes to 9.6 million tonnes per year. Passenger traffic should increase from the current 600,000 to 3.4 million per year.<\/p>\n