Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has opened a 153-kilometre section of the Halkalı–Kapıkule high-speed railway, extending Türkiye’s upgraded rail network towards the Bulgarian border.
The Çerkezköy–Kapıkule section was inaugurated on 9 October 2026, following the completion of construction work. Designed for speeds of up to 200km/h, the double-track railway will carry both passenger and freight services. It includes electrification and Level 1 signalling.
The opening brings the high-speed railway to Kapıkule, on the Bulgarian border, although construction continues on the sections connecting the line to Istanbul.
Once the entire Halkalı–Kapıkule line is complete, passenger journey times between Halkalı in Istanbul and Kapıkule are expected to fall from four hours to 1.5 hours. Freight journey times are projected to decrease from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said:The passenger travel time between Halkalı and Kapıkule will decrease from 4 hours to 1.5 hours, and the freight transportation time will decrease from 8.5 hours to 3.5 hours. We will increase the current line capacity fourfold. Our annual passenger capacity will increase from 600,000 to approximately 3 million, and our annual freight capacity will increase from 1.5 million tons to 9.5 million tons.
The completed corridor is expected to increase annual passenger capacity from 600,000 to approximately three million. Annual freight capacity is forecast to rise from 1.5 million tonnes to 9.5 million tonnes, while overall line capacity is expected to quadruple.
The 153km section includes 31 bridges, eight cut-and-cover tunnels, two viaducts, 114 underpasses and overpasses, and 175 culverts. A total of 353km of rail has been laid across the project.
New station buildings have been constructed at Babaeski, Lüleburgaz and Büyükkarıştıran, while the stations at Kapıkule and Edirne have been rebuilt.
The Halkalı–Kapıkule railway is intended to strengthen rail freight connections between Türkiye and European markets. The corridor serves industrial areas and ports in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ and the wider Thrace region.
The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has identified the route as an important link between the country’s rail network and Europe, connecting with wider east–west transport corridors linking Asia and Europe.
At Kapıkule station, the project includes an expansion of the track layout from 23 to 42 tracks. Total track length is set to increase from 14,840 metres to 29,680 metres. A further 2.4km section between Kapıkule and the Bulgarian border is also being converted to double track to increase capacity for train movements and border processing.
