BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 8. A railway section will open in Edirne that will speed up transport along the Middle Corridor.
This was announced in a statement published on the European Commission's website.
According to the statement, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos will visit Edirne, Türkiye, to attend the inauguration of the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section of the Halkalı-Kapıkule railway, a vital transport link connecting Istanbul to the Bulgarian border tomorrow.
"This project, which received €275 million of EU grant financing under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II), is a first deliverable of the EU's cross-regional Connectivity Agenda that connects Central Asia to Europe via the South Caucasus.
The new high-speed railway connection will significantly improve connectivity between Türkiye and the European Union and will contribute to reducing transit times along the Middle Corridor, linking Europe via Türkiye with the South Caucasus and Central Asia," the statement said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to attend the inauguration. The event marks another milestone in the development of transport links between the EU and Türkiye. Before the ceremony, Kos will meet with Türkiye's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.
"Connectivity remains a priority for the Commission, and the inauguration follows Commissioner Kos's attendance at the International Conference on Corridor VII today in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the conference, she participated in a panel discussion on the geopolitical context of Corridor VIII, chaired by the Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Velislava Petrova-Chamova.
The Halkali-Kapikule railway is the largest infrastructure project to date in EU-Türkiye cooperation, having received €275 million of EU grant financing under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II). The objective of the EU's cross-regional Connectivity Agenda is to strengthen transport, energy and digital links between the European Union and Central Asia through the South Caucasus and the Black Sea region by coordinating strategic investments and regulatory cooperation," the European Commission said.
The Middle Corridor is a trade and transport route running through some countries in the region and connecting Asia with Europe. It serves as an alternative to the traditional Northern and Southern corridors.
The route starts in China and runs through the countries of Central Asia. It then crosses the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, before reaching Europe. The Middle Corridor is a land-based route that bypasses longer maritime routes, connecting the eastern parts of Asia, including China, with Europe.
