The Konya-Karaman rapid railway line, a 102-kilometre section of the 237-kilometre-long Konya-Karaman-Ulukışla rapid railway line project designed for both passenger and freight transport, was inaugurated with a highly anticipated ceremony on 8 January 2022.

With the opening of the line with a design speed of 200 km/h, the travel time between Konya and Karaman, previously one hour and 20 minutes, has been reduced to 50 minutes, and the travel time between Ankara and Karaman, previously three hours and 10 minutes, has been reduced to two hours and 50 minutes. Thus, passenger transport capacity has almost tripled.

Turkey’s rail connection with the middle and southern corridors will be further strengthened with the opening of the Konya-Karaman Lline and upon the completion of the Karaman-Ulukışla and Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep rapid railway projects, which are currently under construction, and freight will be transferred to the ports of Mersin and İskenderun even faster through Konya and Ulukışla.

5,300 passengers have used the Konya-Karaman rapid railway line in two days. The new high-speed railway line connects Karaman province to Ankara, Eskişehir and Istanbul through Konya.

The Konya-Karaman line section is suitable for mixed traffic and is equipped with both automatic train protection (ATP) and ETCS Level 1, as well as trackside signalling systems. On the Konya-Karaman rapid railway line, a saving of 4.1 million euro will be achieved in 2022 through reductions in carbon emissions and maintenance costs and prevention of accidents, along with time and energy savings. Contributing to the reduction of Turkey’s carbon footprint in line with the country’s green development goals, this project will help to prevent 25,340 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2022.

(Source: TCDD)