(AA Photo)
Türkiye plans to construct a high-speed railway linking six provinces along its northern coast, slashing travel time between Samsun and Trabzon to two hours.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu shared details of the planned railway investments at a ceremony in Trabzon. The Samsun-Trabzon-Sarp project will transform the regional transport network by creating a rail corridor stretching from Samsun to the northeastern province of Artvin.
Linking six coastal cities along one rail route will connect the region’s east and west, significantly reducing journey times.
Railway investments in the region extend beyond the coastal project, Uraloğlu said. Work continues on the Ankara-Kırıkkale-Çorum-Samsun line, which is designed to cut travel time between the capital, Ankara and Samsun to two and a half hours.
Construction has already begun on the Kırıkkale-Çorum section of the route. The government completed tender processes for the Çorum-Merzifon and Merzifon-Havza phases of the project, he said.
Once complete, both lines will plug Samsun directly into a high-speed transit hub, stretching southwest to Ankara and sweeping east along the Black Sea coast to Artvin.
Over the past decade, Türkiye has invested heavily in expanding its high-speed rail network to reduce dependency on highways. The national railway operator runs passenger lines connecting major economic hubs, including Istanbul, Ankara, Konya and Sivas.
