We will have the opportunity to travel all over Türkiye in 48 hours

We will have the opportunity to travel all over Türkiye in 48 hours

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Uraloğlu inspected the construction site of the T26 Tunnel in the Ahmetpınar village area.

In his speech, Minister Uraloğlu recalled that yesterday they were in Sinanpaşa district of Afyonkarahisar to inspect the Ankara-Izmir high-speed train line works on site.

He stated that today they were at the T26 Tunnel construction site, a critical point that will reduce travel times for trains on the Ankara-Istanbul and Konya-Istanbul high-speed train lines. Uraloğlu noted that under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they have re-evaluated railways as a state policy with the development initiatives they started in 2002.

Uraloğlu explained that high-speed trains not only connect cities but also fundamentally change the transportation habits of citizens.

Highlighting that this mode of transportation has become particularly preferred due to its comfort, economy, high speed, and safety advantages, Uraloğlu stated, “For example, a very large portion of our citizens traveling from Ankara to Eskişehir, Istanbul, or Sivas, and let’s add Konya to this, prefer rail transport. Since the first high-speed train service began in 2009 with the Ankara-Eskişehir line, approximately 110 million of our citizens have traveled on these trains. We have enabled them to travel. That is, we are talking about a figure far exceeding the population of Turkey.”

Minister Uraloğlu stated that 2025 was a productive and successful year for rail transportation.

“Throughout last year, we provided service to approximately 283 million passengers on our high-speed trains, mainline trains, regional trains, and urban lines.” Uraloğlu stated, continuing as follows:

“Approximately 12 million of these passengers opted for high-speed trains, and our busiest line was the Ankara-Istanbul line with 6 million passengers. Since its launch, 42.6 million citizens have traveled on our Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train line. We are talking about a figure equivalent to half of our country’s population.”

Uraloğlu also reported that the construction of new high-speed train lines such as Ankara-Izmir, Bandırma-Bursa-Yenişehir-Osmaneli, Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye-Gaziantep, Halkalı-Kapıkule, Yerköy-Kayseri, Kırıkkale-Çorum, and Karaman-Ulukışla is ongoing.

“The section that takes 20 minutes to traverse will be reduced to 9 minutes.”
Uraloğlu, underlining that they aim to reach 17,287 kilometers of railway network in 2028 and increase the number of provinces directly connected by high-speed trains to 27, continued his speech as follows:

“As I mentioned earlier, we are continuing construction work on a route of approximately 4,200 kilometers. How many countries in the world are simultaneously constructing 4,200 kilometers of railway? I can say that there aren’t many. Hopefully, in 2053, we will connect all corners of our country with high-speed train lines, enabling us to travel around all of Türkiye in 48 hours. Now, to further strengthen this momentum of success I mentioned, we are conducting inspections at the T26 Tunnel. Our 5,587-meter T26 Tunnel, located in the Bozüyük-Bilecik section of the Ankara-Istanbul High-Speed ​​Railway Line, constitutes one of the most critical points of the line. Because…” “With the completion of the T26 Tunnel and its connection to the high-speed rail line, we will hopefully begin using an 8-kilometer high-speed rail line instead of the existing 9.1-kilometer conventional line. Thus, our trains will be able to travel uninterrupted at 250 kilometers per hour instead of 55 kilometers per hour in this section, the 20-minute journey will be reduced to 9 minutes, and delays at these single-track train junctions will be completely eliminated.”

Minister Uraloğlu stated that the excavation and support works of the tunnel have been completed, adding, “Our superstructure, electrification, and signaling works are progressing rapidly. According to our plans, we aim to complete the superstructure construction in the third quarter of 2026, and the electrification and signaling construction by the end of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, respectively.”

Continuing from this point, Uraloğlu emphasized that infrastructure, superstructure, and electromechanical construction works are also continuing at full speed on the 12-kilometer route between Sapanca and Geyve, stating, “We received the necessary information from our colleagues regarding that as well. I would like to state that the physical progress of the work in that section is approximately 65 percent. We plan to complete and open that section to service in the first half of 2028, God willing, if we do not experience any delays in the tunnels, in the first quarter.”

Uraloğlu added that they will continue to uphold the vision of “covering the homeland with a network of railways” under the leadership of President Erdoğan.

Minister Uraloğlu then inspected the tunnel with those accompanying him and took photos with the workers.

The program was attended by Bilecik Governor Faik Oktay Sözer, AK Party Bilecik Member of Parliament Halil Eldemir, Provincial Police Chief Erdem Çağlar, Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Senior Colonel Ali Vanlı, TCDD General Manager Veysi Kurt,