Journey from Edirne to Cerkezkoy Cut from 4.5 Hours to 54 Minutes; Cerkezkoy-Kapikule High-Speed Rail Line Makes Inaugural Run

The Cerkezkoy-Kapikule High-Speed Rail Line, operated by the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), entered service with its inaugural run departing Edirne Station at 09:00 on the morning of October 10, 2026. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the line in the Babaeski district of Kirklareli.

The 153-kilometer line, equipped with electric infrastructure, will be operated with trains capable of reaching 200 kilometers per hour and carrying 221 passengers. Travel time on the Edirne-Cerkezkoy route, which previously took 4.5 hours, has now been reduced to 54 minutes; this also significantly shortens connection time to Istanbul.

The line stands out as part of the corridor linking Turkey to Europe's rail network. The completion of this section, which lies on the pan-European route extending from Edirne through Sofia and on to Vienna, will accelerate access to border crossings for both freight and passenger transport.

The line, which was last comprehensively invested in by TCDD in the 1970s and operated with diesel locomotives, had slowed considerably over time. With the new line, it is now possible for a passenger departing Edirne in the morning to reach Istanbul before noon.