Over 1,000 high-speed rail experts from around the world will meet in Turkey's capital this week.
The World Congress on High Speed Rail will be held in Ankara from May 8-11 under the patronage of the Prime Ministry. The International Union of Railways (UIC) and the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) are organizing the 10th iteration of the event.
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Transport, and Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan are expected to attend the event.
The main theme of the congress is "sharing knowledge for sustainable and competitive operations," according to its website.
The congress will be organized around three main blocks: Sessions, trade exhibitions and technical visits.
The biyearly congress is the most prominent and large-scale global event on high-speed rail. Previously, it has been hosted by Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, China, the U.S. and Japan.
In recent years, Turkey has carried out a series of high-speed railway projects, starting with the opening of the Ankara-Eskişehir line in 2009. In 2011, the over 200-kilometer Ankara-Konya line entered service, followed by Eskişehir-Istanbul line in 2014.
The country is still working on the 625-kilometer Ankara-İzmir high-speed railway line and around 400-kilometer Ankara-Sivas line.
