site.btaPresident Erdogan Inaugurates New Bulgaria Bound Railway Section

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday inaugurated a new section of a high-speed railway line connecting Istanbul with the Bulgarian border, before officially commissioning the railway by personally driving the train.                                                                   

In his inauguration speech, he said that the launch of the Istanbul–Kapıkule railway line, which will serve both freight and passenger transport, would reduce passenger journey times from 4.5 hours to 1.5 hours, while increasing capacity approximately fourfold.

“Today, we are inaugurating a very important investment. This is one of our projects that will give our country a new vision. The Cerkezkoy–Kapıkule section, the most important and longest section of the high-speed railway line between Istanbul and Kapıkule, is a strategically important project,” Erdogan said at the ceremony held at the station in Babaeski, Kırklareli Province.

Erdogan’s speech was broadcast live on social media.

At the beginning of his address, Erdogan expressed particular gratitude to European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who attended the ceremony.

“I would like to thank Marta Kos, the European Union Commissioner for Enlargement, for sharing our excitement,” he said.

Construction of the railway line, which began in 2019, is being jointly funded by Turkiye and the EU.

The Turkish President noted that, with the project becoming operational, the number of cities directly served by high-speed trains would increase from 11 to 14.

“This line will be a vital artery connecting Anatolia’s production with European markets and a backbone for accelerating the achievement of Turkiye’s export targets. It will make a very significant contribution to the economies of Thrace and Turkiye. We cannot limit the importance of the Halkalı–Kapıkule line to Thrace alone. We are strengthening the links along the corridor extending towards Europe. Transport investments are among those driving Turkiye into a new era. We hope that trade and tourism will become even more dynamic. Our project will not only bring people and cities closer together but will also make a very significant contribution to the economic development of Thrace and Turkiye,” Erdogan said.

According to the Turkish President, the launch of the new line will increase annual passenger transport capacity from 600,000 to 3 million people, while annual freight capacity will rise from 1.5 million to 9.5 million tonnes. This means faster transport, stronger logistics, and more dynamic trade and tourism, he concluded.

“We are increasing our railway capacity at Kapıkule, Turkiye’s gateway to Europe. We are increasing the number of tracks in the station area from 23 to 42, while the total track length will rise from 15,675 metres to 51,000 metres. As part of the project, we are building new station buildings in Babaeski, Luleburgaz and Buyukkarıstıran. We are renovating the station buildings in Kapıkule and Edirne, as well as the freight station building and the locomotive maintenance workshop. In this way, we are transforming not only the main line but also all its components into a modern and robust railway infrastructure,” Erdogan added.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Turkish President personally drove the first train from Babaeski to Edirne.

Bulgaria was represented at the inauguration ceremony of the Cerkezkoy–Kapıkule railway section by Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Ankara, Angel Cholakov; Bulgaria’s Consul General in Edirne, Radoslava Kafedzhiyska; and Consul Petar Arabadzhiev.