Construction work on a metro line to Esenboğa Airport in the Turkish capital Ankara is planned to begin next year, a top official announced on Sunday.
“Initially, the line was planned to start with a transfer from Kuyubaşı Station, but it has now been redesigned to start from the High-Speed Train (YHT) Station. We aim to start construction work on our YHT Station-Kuyubaşı-Esenboğa Airport Metro Line in 2026,” Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said in a written statement.
The metro line was designed to be 36 kilometers (22.4 miles) long, consisting of 12 stations, according to the minister.
Sharing the latest developments regarding the Esenboğa Airport Metro Line, Uraloğlu noted that important updates had been made in line with increasing transportation needs and passenger demand.
He suggested that the line was at first planned to start with a transfer from Kuyubaşı Station, but it has now been redesigned to start from the YHT Station.
YHT is a high-speed rail service operated by Turkish State Railways (TCDD). It's a major railway network that serves cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Eskişehir, Konya and Sivas.
The planned metro line, which will thus start from the station popularly known as "YHT Gar" in Ankara, would be a major connectivity point for the Turkish capital.
“We have conducted a comprehensive study so that the project will be integrated into the transportation system and will meet the most feasible and current needs. We have now reached the final stage. We aim to start construction work on our YHT Station-Kuyubaşı-Esenboğa Airport Metro Line in 2026,” Uraloğlu said.
He also stated that, to date, the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has constructed a total of 44.5 kilometers of new lines in Ankara, including the Kızılay-Çayyolu, Batıkent-Sincan, Keçiören-AKM and AKM-Gar-Kızılay metro lines. He also reminded that, in addition to these lines, they modernized the 36-kilometer line between Sincan and Kayaş.
“As the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, we have extended Ankara’s 23.1-kilometer rail system line by 80.5 kilometers, bringing the total length of the rail system line to over 103 kilometers,” he concluded.
