New Fast Line in European Turkey Opens

[LNW-GW Joint]

From Railway Gazette International (main article behind a paywall):

TURKEY: Ministers formally inaugurated the 153 km Çerkezköy – Kapikule section of the Halkali – Kapikule railway on October 9, representing the latest step in the creation of a double-track electrified main line from Istanbul to the Bulgarian border.

Apart from the short stretch through Edirne, opened in 1971 to bypass Greek territory, this new railway replaces the original old, slow and indirect route via the Maritsa river valley and Uzunköprü, built by the Oriental Railway in 1873.
Two-thirds of the distance between the Bulgarian border and Istanbul is now covered by this new line.
Work is under way to upgrade the remaining 80km of the existing route to Halkali in the western suburbs of Istanbul.
The finished railway will be 55km shorter than the old one at 229km.
I haven't seen any timetables for the new railway, but it is bound to make reaching Istanbul by train much quicker - the current overnight train from Sofia consumes 7 hours in Turkey.

 

[JB_B]

From https://www.seat61.com/news.htm

"The Sofia-Istanbul train has been accelerated to arrive Istanbul Halkali 07:21 instead of 09:56. Westbound, it will leave at 23:13 instead of 20:00."