The 3rd commercial high speed rail service in Turkey, Eskişehir-Konya, was inaugurated on 23 March 2013. The inauguration ceremony held in Eskişehir was attended by H.E. Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, together with H.E. Binali Yildirim, Turkish Minister of Transport, and Mr Süleyman Karaman, Director General of TCDD.

After Ankara-Eskişehir, the first high speed railway line in Turkey, and the second, Ankara-Konya, commercial services between Eskişehir and Konya began on 23 March 2013. The length of the line between the two Anatolian cities is 355 km.

Having started the commercial services between Eskişehir and Konya, the total travel time between Eskişehir and Konya was reduced from 5 hours to approximately 2 hours. Together with HS services and the combined transport services presented to travellers, the travel time between Konya and Bursa, one of the main cities in Turkey, was reduced from 8 hours to 4 hours.

The significance of this line is that it will also serve as the main HS connection between Konya and Istanbul after the Eskişehir-Istanbul section of the Ankara-Istanbul HS line is finished – planned to be completed by the end of this year – together with the Marmaray Project, which will connect the two continents, namely Asia and Europe, under sea, and will provide a seamless railway service for both freight and passengers.