Türkiye has completed excavations for an important rail tunnel that is supposed to enhance freight traffic to and from Europe. The tunnel is a relatively short piece of infrastructure in the country’s largest city Istanbul, but it is also part of a future high-speed rail line to Bulgaria that will facilitate freight traffic.
The tunnel is one out of three stages of the Istanbul – Bulgaria high-speed line, which will run between the Halkalı and Kapıkule rail freight hubs. Out of 229 kilometres of the route’s total length, the tunnel only occupies 8,4 kilometres between Halkalı and Ispartakule in Istanbul. With drilling completed, 74 per cent of this section of the line is now completed, according to the Turkish transport minister.
A 67-kilometre and 153-kilometre railways constitute the remaining two stages of the entire high-speed rail project. Türkiye aims for completion by 2025: “With the completion of all stages, we aim to increase the current line capacity by four times, and we plan to reduce passenger travel time from four hours to one hour and 30 minutes, and freight transportation time from eight hours to three and a half hours.”
Asia – Europe traffic
Much like its Central Asian and Caucasian counterparts, Türkiye sees potential in fostering Asia – Europe transit on its territory as part of the Middle Corridor. It is banking on rail to facilitate that, with its 2025 rail budget being on par with its road expenses. Brussels also welcomes the Istanbul – Bulgaria rail development, having allocated 25 million euros to the project earlier.
The railway line will enable the movement of trains at a speed of 200 kmph. Unlike most high-speed projects, which are limited to passenger movement, this railway line is there to boost rail freight traffic just as much. The government has indicated the ambition to increase the modal split of rail from the current five to 22 per cent in 2053.
According to various sources, freight transport on the line will increase from 1.53 million tonnes to 9.6 million tonnes per year. Passenger traffic should increase from the current 600,000 to 3.4 million per year.
European Silk Road Summit 2024
The Middle Corridor will be one of the key Silk Road topics we will discuss at the European Silk Road Summit 2024, taking place in Vienna on 27-28 November.
Registrations for the yearly event are already open, while the programme, which this year highlights the fast-recovering China-Europe rail market, is shaping up.