Turkey’s capital city inaugurated the suburban rail network, a project that has been part of a major modernisation process in recent years. Present at the official inauguration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted the effort made by Ankara over the past 15 years to modernise urban and suburban rail transport. The network, called Bașkentray, can be used free of charge until April 24th. The modernised line is 36 kilometers long and will operate with 15 railway lines and 23 stations between Kayaş suburb, downtown, then it will reach the Sincan suburb, located in the western part of Ankara. By increasing the number of lines to 15, the Bașkentray project is extremely important as herewith the suburban, the high-speed lines as well as the conventional and rail freight traffic lines can now operate separately. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, who also attended the inauguration, said the project was worth TRY 1.22 billion (USD 293 million). The Bașkentray suburban rail network will be able to accommodate 500,000 passengers daily. The modernisation work carried out since 2016 has been extensive and implied the connection of the suburban rail network with the Ankara light rail network and three stations of the main commercial hub (Kizilay): Yenişehir, Kurtuluş and Maltepe.
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