Turkish State Railways (TCDD) started building high-speed rail lines in 2003. TCDD has branded its high-speed service as Yüksek Hızlı Tren (YHT) which currently operates on three lines: the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway, the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway and the Ankara-Sivas high-speed railway. YHT is the only high-speed rail service in Turkey, with two types of EMU train models operating at speeds of up to 250 km/h (155 mph) (HT65000)[3] or 300 km/h (186 mph) (HT80000).[1][2]
On 13 March 2009, the first phase of the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway entered service between Ankara and Eskişehir. On 25 July 2014, the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway services began to reach the Pendik railway station on the Asian side of Istanbul,[4] and on 13 March 2019 the services began to reach the Halkalı railway station on the European side of Istanbul, passing through the Marmaray railway tunnel under the Bosphorus strait. There were initially 6 daily departures in both directions.[5]
On 23 August 2011, the YHT service on the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway was inaugurated and on 26 April 2023 the 405 km long Ankara-Sivas high-speed railway started operations.[6]
High-speed rail in Turkey is still developing, with new lines currently under construction or in the planning phase. By 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure expects Turkey's high-speed rail system to increase to 10,000 kilometres (6,214 mi).[7][needs update]
- ^ a b "Velaro Turkey: High-Speed Train for TCDD" (PDF). Siemens Mobility. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Velaro Turkey High-Speed Train". Siemens Mobility. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Technical specifications of TCDD HT65000". CAF. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ Uysal, Onur. "First High Speed Train Set on Ankara Istanbul Line Arrived Istanbul", Rail Turkey, 26 July 2014
- ^ Uysal, Onur. "New Schedule for Istanbul-Ankara High Speed Train", Rail Turkey, 9 August 2014
- ^ Artymiuk, Simon (27 April 2023). "Turkey officially opens 405km Ankara - Sivas high-speed line". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ Turkey's high-speed rail system will be complete by 2023 – rayturk.net