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 VIII 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.
