Schedules that were delayed following the deadly high-speed train accident on the route between the Turkish capital Ankara and the central Konya province are finally back to normal.
It took crews a few days to completely clean up the scene and remove the debris, before railroad authorities were able to announce that everything was back on schedule.
At least nine people were killed and 47 others were injured on Dec. 13 when a high-speed train crashed into a pilot engine traveling along the same railroad in Ankara.
The head-on collision between the high-speed train and the pilot engine, which was returning from routine railway inspections, occurred around six minutes after the high-speed train departed from Ankara terminal at 6:30 a.m. local time, officials said. During the crash a pedestrian overpass had also collapsed onto some of the train wagons.
On Saturday, the first high-speed train made its way from Ankara to Istanbul's Pendik station after the deadly crash. Another scheduled train between Sincan and Kayaş districts has also passed through the Marşandiz Station in Yenimahalle district of Ankara.
The cause of the crash that killed nine people is still unclear, while teams led by three prosecutors investigated why the high-speed train hit an engine tasked with checking the tracks head-on.
Media reports said the absence of a railway signaling system was to blame for the crash, claiming the train and the engine were on the same track for this reason. Authorities detained three railway staff following the incident and are examining the radio communications used by train station personnel and the staff on the train. However, Transportation Minister Cahit Turhan said that while railway signaling systems are not typically a crucial part of the operation of trains and railways, a full investigation is underway.
