Even though Turkey is not a member of the EU, the European Union agreed to provide a grant for the upgrading the main line from Kalin west of Sivas to the Black Sea city of Samsun.
Under the deal, Turkish State Railways (TCDD) will provide EUR 39m while the EU will contribute EUR 220m. The project on the modernization of Sivas – Samsun line aims to cut travel time from 9 hours to 5 hours, and the capacity of line will increase from 21 to 54 trains per day.
The 370 km line suffers from sharp curves which will be eased to enable line speeds to be increased. This will allow the Sivas – Samsun journey time to be cut from 9 hours today to 5 hours. The capacity of the line will also be increased from 21 to 54 trains per day.
According to TCDD, the works will be completed until 2018 and will increase passenger traffic from 95 to 168 million passenger-km and freight to grow from 657 to 867 million tonne-km a year.
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