Türkiye opens the Çerkezköy–Kapıkule high-speed line: Istanbul to the Bulgarian border in 1.5 hours

At a ceremony in Kırklareli on 9 October, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opened the 153-km Çerkezköy–Kapıkule section of the Halkalı–Kapıkule high-speed railway. It is the longest of the 229-km project's three sections. After the ceremony Erdoğan took the driver's seat and drove the train himself from Babaeski to Lüleburgaz.

The double-track, electrified and signalled line is built for 200 km/h, with 31 bridges and dozens of over- and underpasses. Once the whole route is open, the journey from Istanbul's Halkalı station to Kapıkule will fall from 4 hours to 1.5. Annual passenger capacity will rise from 600,000 to about 3 million, and freight capacity from 1.5 million to 9.5 million tonnes. Tekirdağ, Kırklareli and Edirne have now joined the high-speed network, which grows to 2,604 km and serves 14 provinces directly.

The line matters for the Turkic world too: Middle Corridor freight travelling from China through Central Asia, across the Caspian and via Azerbaijan and Georgia to Türkiye crosses onto the European rail network at Kapıkule. The project was co-financed by the European Union, and EU representatives attended the ceremony.