Construction work has commenced on the high-speed railway connecting the capital Ankara to the central Anatolian province of Sivas.
The first tracks were laid on March 25 in the Yerköy district of Yozgat with a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ, Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Ahmet Arslan, Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz and Yozgat Governor Kemal Yurtnaç.
The 405 kilometer railway, which will go through the central Anatolian provinces of Kırıkkale and Yozgat, will shorten the travel time between Ankara and Sivas to two hours from the current 12 hours.
“All works on the railway project will be completed within a year. Passengers will be able to travel from Istanbul to Sivas in 5.5 hours,” said Arslan.
The project, which also includes construction of a total of 49 tunnels, is estimated to cost 9 billion Turkish Liras ($2.26 billion), according to the minister.
Turkey’s long-awaited high-speed railway line between Ankara and the financial capital Istanbul was inaugurated on July 25, 2016.
This project, which is worth $4 billion, was completed in phases.
Last year in January, Transport Minister Arslan unveiled plans regarding a new high-speed train project in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir and the Mediterranean province of Antalya.