Turkish State Railways is hoping to construct a high-speed railway line along the Istanbul-Ankara corridor. The project aims to significantly improve the rail connection between the country’s two largest cities by cutting the travel time from around eight hours to just three hours.

The scheme is under appraisal at the European Investment Bank (EIB), and if approved the EIB will finance €650-850m towards the railway. The total cost is approximately €2.5bn. A decision is expected before the end of this year.