High-speed train to connect Ankara with Istanbul
Turkey is launching a super high-speed train between Ankara and Istanbul that will reduce travel time to just 80 minutes, reports railway.supply.
During a speech in Istanbul, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the train would reach 350 kilometres per hour.
The Ankara-Istanbul route is part of a broader plan to double the national rail network.
Uraloglu noted that the broader project to facilitate transportation across the Bosphorus Strait, set to launch this year, would span the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and connect Sabiha Gokcen Airport to Istanbul Airport and Catalca.
Additionally, a 505km Ankara-Izmir high-speed project is expected to reach Afyonkarahisar by late next year and Izmir by the following year.
Churchill’s wartime train restored
Winston Churchill’s World War II luxury Pullman coach, Lydia, has been fully restored and will become part of a heritage offering at the heritage train attraction, South Devon Railway, in Buckfastleigh railway station, England.
According to bbc.com, the new private owner of the coach, Alasdair Page, is housing the historic carriage at South Devon Railway so that it can be used to host tourists for afternoon teas, lunches and themed evenings.
Lydia was hand-picked by Churchill and is known for hosting Churchill and former US President Dwight Eisenhower for D-Day preparations and carrying Churchill’s coffin during his funeral.
India gets a jungle safari train
The government of the north-Indian state, Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with the state’s Eco-Tourism Development Board, has launched the country’s first jungle safari tourism train itinerary, reports indianexpress.com.
The Vistadome coach service connects the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in the Bahraich district to the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Pilibhit. The new tourist train offers panoramic views of the forest landscape with its specially designed coaches equipped with swivelling seats, large glass windows and transparent roofs.
At present, the service operates at weekends, but there are plans to operate the itinerary daily. The Vistadome travels 107km over about four-and-a-half hours, and makes stops at nine stations – Bichia, Manjhara Purab, Khairatia Bandh Road, Tikunia, Belerayan, Dudhwa, Palia Kalan, Bhira Kheri, and Mailani.
