Ankara-Istanbul high speed rail line to open July 11

Turkish Transport Minister Lutfi Elvan said Wednesday high-speed train between Turkey's capital Ankara and Istanbul will be opened on July 11.

The opening of the line was postponed in May as the signaling cables were cut and stolen. The long-awaited rail line will cut the journey time between the two cities to three and a half hours. It currently takes around six hours by road.

The train will be capable of reaching speeds of up to 250 kilometers an hour.

There are currently two high-speed rail lines in Turkey, mostly central Anatolian provinces; between the cities of Ankara, Konya and Ankara-Eskisehir.

The high speed rail line will have 10 stops on the line, Ankara, Polatli, Eskisehir, Bozuyuk, Bilecik, Pamukova, Sapanca, Izmit, Gebze and Pendik.

A test run of the railway line was successfully completed said Elvan.

Turkish State Railways had announced in January that it would invest almost half of its 2014 budget (1.8 billion liras) in high-speed trains, as part of a wide array of construction projects planned for Turkey's founding anniversary in 2023.