President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated Türkiye's new high-speed train line between the provinces of Konya and Karaman on January 8.
Cutting travel time between the two provinces to 40 minutes, the new line is 102 km long and includes 74 bridges and culverts, 39 crossovers, and 17 pedestrian ways. It will also cut travel time between Ankara and Karaman down to 2 hours and 40 minutes, and give the transportation sector a leg up. Work on signaling is still underway, plans are being made to connect the network to other regions and countries as well.
At the opening ceremony, President Erdoğan stated the train allows Konya residents to travel to Ankara, Eskişehir, and Istanbul more comfortably, easier, and more economically than other modes of transports and added, “We've jumped on this opportunity and taken it one step further now. We've extended the high-speed train system to Karaman, and in doing so, are entering a new era. After that, I hope we'll extend it first from Karaman to Ulukışla, then to Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, and eventually Gaziantep. We're also about to open the Ankara-Sivas line, which is still in the testing and commissioning phase."
The project is expected to save TRY 63 million annually in terms of time, energy, emissions, and maintenance, as well as to cut carbon emissions by 25,340 tons per year.