Türkiye on Friday opened a 153-kilometer (about 95-mile) rail section running from west of Istanbul to the Bulgarian border, extending the national high-speed network to the European Union's doorstep.

The new section starts at Çerkezköy, a town in Tekirdağ province in southeastern Thrace, west of Istanbul. It ends at Kapıkule, Türkiye’s main rail and road border crossing with Bulgaria, near the city of Edirne in the country’s far northwest.

It is the longest part of the 229-kilometer Halkalı-Kapıkule line, which begins at Halkalı on Istanbul's western edge. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the line "one of the transportation projects that will bring a new vision to our country."

"This route will serve as a lifeline connecting Anatolia's production to European markets and as a logistical backbone accelerating Türkiye's progress toward its export targets," Erdoğan told the opening ceremony in Kırklareli province in northeastern Thrace.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos was also present.

Erdoğan said the line will eventually boost production, exports, employment, trade and tourism, adding that it "will make a significant contribution to the Turkish economy."

Three provinces join high-speed network

With the opening of the new section, Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and Edirne join the high-speed network.

Tekirdağ lies on the Sea of Marmara coast, Kırklareli in the northeast of Thrace along the Bulgarian border, and Edirne in the northwest corner where Türkiye meets both Bulgaria and Greece.

With the opening, Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and Edirne join the high-speed network. Tekirdağ lies on the Sea of Marmara coast, Kırklareli in the northeast of Thrace along the Bulgarian border, and Edirne in the northwest corner where Türkiye meets both Bulgaria and Greece.

The number of Turkish provinces reached by high-speed rail rises to 14.

The project also covers new station buildings at Babaeski, Lüleburgaz and Büyükkarıştıran, and the reconstruction of the Kapıkule and Edirne stations. Babaeski and Lüleburgaz are towns in Kırklareli province, and Büyükkarıştıran is a settlement in Lüleburgaz district, also in Kırklareli.

Greater capacity, faster journeys

The line is double-track, electrified and signalized, designed for speeds of 200 kilometers per hour.

Passenger journeys between Halkalı and Kapıkule will fall from 4 hours to 1.5 hours, while freight transit will drop from 8.5 hours to 3.5, according to Erdoğan.

Annual passenger capacity is expected to rise from 600,000 to about 3 million, and annual freight capacity from 1.5 million to 9.5 million tons, according to officials.

"This means that transportation will become faster, logistics will improve, and travel times will be reduced," said Erdoğan.

European link

The line will connect not only continents but also Türkiye and the European Union, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.

"We will continue to work together to further advance our cooperation with the European Union on this project," he added.

He described the line as one of the most critical structures linking the Middle Corridor to Europe. The Middle Corridor is the trade route connecting Asia and Europe through Central Asia, the Caucasus and Türkiye.

Türkiye and the EU co-financed the 153-kilometer section, while the Transport Ministry built the remaining 76 kilometers. The line is part of the Trans-European Transport Networks.

Erdoğan said the Halkalı-Kapıkule line is a key component of the 2,094-kilometer Turkish section of the 6,314-kilometer Development Road project.

Unveiled in May 2023, the $20 billion initiative aims to move goods from the Gulf to Europe via the Grand Faw Port in Basra, southern Iraq.

"The Halkalı-Kapıkule route will facilitate access to European markets for our industrial centers, particularly the organized industrial zones in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ and Thrace, as well as our ports," Erdoğan said.

Wider rail expansion

Erdoğan said transportation investments have been central to Türkiye's progress over the past 24 years.

The total railway network has reached 13,919 kilometers, while the length of the electrified lines has expanded to 7,274 kilometers, he noted.

"During our time in office, the present-day value of our transportation investments has risen to $354 billion. Railways account for $80 billion of this total," Erdoğan said.

Construction is underway on 4,858 kilometers of railway lines, and the goal for 2053 is to reach 28,590 kilometers in total, he added.