The newly-inaugurated high-speed line between the Turkish capital and Sivas will further expand eastwards, reaching Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars, and Baku in Azerbaijan.
Before the high-speed line, the travel between Ankara and Sivas took almost seven hours. Now, it was reduced to two and a half hours. Moreover, the travel time from Istanbul to Sivas would be shortened to six hours, making it more accessible for both domestic and international visitors.
The service between Ankara and Sivas is covered by Siemens Mobility’s Velaro trainsets, with a capacity of 483 seats each. The operator, TCDD, will run three daily trains in each direction.
One day after the inaugural ride of the HST to Sivas, another rail connection was relaunched from Sivas. Three weekly trains will depart northbound, with a final destination in Samsun, on the Black Sea coast. This service was discontinued in 2015 due to renewal works, and after the relaunch, the travel time was shortened from 9,5 to eight hours. The service is provided by diesel multiple units.
