The market leader on Istanbul-Edirne route, bus services may fall back.

The Istanbul-Edirne transport is taking high interest of bus companies. The competition between companies is so tough that Competition Authority had charged TL 800 mn to one of these companies. Soon the market will have a very tough competitor: Train.

The Halkali-Kapikule railway project will start with EU funds this year and is expected to be commissioned in 2022. When completed, there’ll be a faster, safer alternative with more fun, better access to stations, eco-friendly and most probably cheaper.

On new line, the Istanbul-Edirne market with 3 million passengers is expected to shift to train from bus.

Here is a comparison of trains on new line and buses:

Though the number of departures is not known yet, to be able to carry half of this 3 million passengers, 4 trains with 10 cars or 7 trains with 5 cars have to run every day in each direction.

Cover photo: Onur Uysal ©