More than 62.9 million passengers have traveled on the Eskişehir-Istanbul High-Speed Train (YHT) line since it entered service 12 years ago, highlighting the route's growing role as one of Türkiye's busiest rail corridors, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said Sunday.
Marking the 12th anniversary of the line, Uraloğlu said the route has evolved from linking two cities into a key artery of Türkiye's expanding high-speed rail network, connecting passengers from several provinces to Istanbul.
The line began passenger services on July 27, 2014, completing the high-speed rail connection between Ankara and Istanbul after Türkiye launched its first YHT service with the Ankara-Eskişehir route in 2009.
Since then, the corridor has expanded to serve additional destinations, with Konya-Istanbul services introduced later in 2014, followed by Karaman-Istanbul in 2022 and Sivas-Istanbul in 2024.
"The Eskişehir-Istanbul line has gone beyond connecting just two cities and has become the backbone of the high-speed rail network extending to Istanbul from different parts of the country," Uraloğlu said. "It has become one of the busiest routes in Türkiye's high-speed rail network."
The minister said the line provides direct high-speed rail access to more than 20 million people across five provinces through stations in Bozüyük, Bilecik, Pamukova, Arifiye, Izmit, Gebze, Pendik, Bostancı and Söğütlüçeşme.
Linking major industrial, manufacturing, trade and technology centers such as Eskişehir, Bilecik, Sakarya, Kocaeli and Istanbul, the route now offers direct high-speed rail service to 23% of Türkiye's population, according to Uraloğlu.
Passenger demand has continued to rise over the years. The minister said the line carried 9.1 million passengers in 2025, while approximately 5.3 million passengers have used the service so far in 2026.
An average of 25,730 passengers travel on the line each day, with 44 daily services operating in both directions, making it one of the country's busiest high-speed rail routes, he added.
