page_title: Turkish State Railways
section_title: High-speed services
hierarchical_section_title: Turkish State Railways / Operations / Passenger operations / High-speed services
caption_attribution_description: English: High-speed electric multiple unit HT80101 Ankara, Turkey Русский: Высокоскоростной электропоезд HT80101 Анкара, Турция
context_page_description: The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey, abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD was formed on 4 June 1929 as part of the nationalisation of railways in Turkey.
  The Turkish State Railways own and maintain all public railways in Turkey. This includes railway stations, ports, bridges and tunnels, yards and maintenance facilities. In 2016, TCDD controlled an active network of 12,532 km of railways, making it the 22nd-largest railway system in the world. Apart from railway infrastructure, TCDD also owns several rail transport companies within Turkey as well as a 50% share of the İzmir-area commuter rail system, İZBAN.
  Prior to 2017, TCDD also operated all railways in Turkey. However, with the government taking steps to privatise some of the Turkish railway network, TCDD Taşımacılık was formed on 14 June 2016 to take over all railway operations. Handover of rolling stock was signed on 28 December of the same year and TCDD formally ceased all railway operations on 31 December 2016.
context_section_description: High-speed rail in Turkey began service in 2009. TCDD has branded its high-speed service as Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT. YHT currently operates on two lines: the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway and the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway. They had previously tried accelerated train, i.e. higher speed rail without the necessary upgrades on the railroad tracks.
  On 13 March 2009, the first phase of the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway entered service between Ankara and Eskişehir. On 25 July 2014, the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed line services began to reach the Pendik railway station on the Asian side of Istanbul, and on 13 March 2019 the services began to reach the Halkalı railway station on the European side of Istanbul, passing through the Marmaray railway tunnel under the Bosphorus strait. There were initially 6 daily departures in both directions. The high-speed line between Ankara and Istanbul has reduced the overland travel time to 3 and a half hours, compared to 5 hours by car.
  On 23 August 2011, the YHT service on the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway was inaugurated. 
  High-speed rail in Turkey is still developing, with new lines currently under construction or in the planning phase. By 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure expects Turkey's high-speed rail system to increase to 10,000 kilometers.
caption: A TCDD HT80000 (Siemens Velaro TR) high-speed train (YHT) in Ankara
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