05.04.2026 19:16
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu visited the construction site of the T26 Tunnel, which will reduce the travel times of trains on the Ankara-Istanbul and Konya-Istanbul High-Speed Train Lines in Bilecik. Minister Uraloğlu stated, "When we complete the works we are doing in both the T26 and the Sapanca region, we will have shortened our travel time between Ankara and Istanbul by half an hour."
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu came to Bilecik to inspect the ongoing T26 railway tunnel project construction site.
Minister Uraloğlu was welcomed by Bilecik Governor Faik Oktay Sözer, AK Party Bilecik Member of Parliament Halil Eldemir, and AK Party Provincial Chairman Serkan Yıldırım at the T26 railway tunnel project construction site near the Bozüyük district. After receiving detailed information about the current status of the tunnel, Minister Uraloğlu stated that he visited the construction works on the Ankara-Izmir high-speed train line yesterday and came to Bilecik today.
“IT WILL REDUCE TRAVEL TIME BETWEEN ANKARA-ISTANBUL AND KONYA-ISTANBUL” Noting that the tunnel will reduce the travel times of trains on the Ankara-Istanbul and Konya-Istanbul high-speed train lines, Minister Uraloğlu said, “Since 2002, under the leadership of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we have addressed railways as a state policy with the development initiatives we started. We can see the tangible results of the strong investments we have made in the railway sector over the last 24 years much more clearly on the ground. Railway passenger transportation has entered a new era in our country, especially with high-speed trains. High-speed trains have not only connected cities but have also fundamentally changed the transportation habits of our citizens. Thanks to the comfort, cost-effectiveness, high speed, and safety advantages it offers, it has become a preferred mode of transportation,” he said.
“SO FAR, 110 MILLION OF OUR CITIZENS HAVE TRAVELED” Explaining that a large majority of those traveling from Ankara to Eskişehir, Istanbul, or Sivas have chosen the railway, Minister Uraloğlu said, “With high-speed trains that started service for the first time in 2009 on the Ankara-Eskişehir line, approximately 110 million of our citizens have traveled so far. Again, 2025 will be an efficient and successful year in terms of railway transportation. Throughout last year, high-speed trains, mainline trains, regional trains, and our urban lines served approximately 283 million passengers. About 12 million passengers preferred high-speed trains, and our busiest line was the Ankara-Istanbul line with approximately 6 million passengers. Since it started service, 42 million 600 thousand passengers have traveled on our Ankara-Istanbul High-Speed Train Line,” he stated.
“WE WILL CONNECT ALL PARTS OF OUR COUNTRY WITH HIGH-SPEED TRAIN LINES AND TRAVEL ALL OF TURKEY IN 48 HOURS” Currently, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that they are continuing the construction of new high-speed train lines such as Ankara-Izmir, Bandırma-Bursa-Yenişehir-Osmaneli, Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye-Gaziantep, Halkalı-Kapıkule, Yerköy-Kayseri, and Kırıkkale-Çorum-Karaman-Ulukışla, and that they aim to reach a railway network of 17,287 kilometers by 2028 and increase the number of provinces directly connected by high-speed trains to 27. Uraloğlu noted that the ongoing lines are being constructed over an approximate route of 4,200 kilometers and said:
“How many countries in the world are currently constructing 4,200 kilometers of railway at the same time? I can say that it is not many. God willing, by 2053, we will connect all parts of our country with high-speed train lines and travel all of Turkey in 48 hours. Our 5,587-meter T26 tunnel, located in the Bozüyük-Bilecik section of the Ankara-Istanbul High-Speed Railway Line, is one of the most critical points of the line. Because with the completion of the T26 tunnel and its connection to the high-speed train line, an 8-kilometer high-speed train line will be used instead of the currently used 9.1-kilometer conventional line. Thus, our trains in this section will be able to travel continuously at a speed of 250 kilometers instead of 55 kilometers per hour, the section that currently takes 20 minutes will be reduced to 9 minutes, and the train meeting delays caused by the single track will be completely eliminated.”
Expressing that the infrastructure, superstructure, and electromechanical construction works on the 12-kilometer route between Sapanca and Geyve are continuing at full speed, Minister Uraloğlu added that the physical progress of the work in that section is proportionally over 65 percent and that they plan to complete it in the second quarter of 2028. After his speech, Minister Uraloğlu inspected the tunnel and left the city.