Konya Metropolitan Municipality has officially opened the Courthouse–City Hospital Tram Line, marking another major investment in the city’s public transportation infrastructure.

Konya Metropolitan Mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay traveled by tram from the Courthouse to City Hospital before arriving at the opening ceremony with members of the protocol and officially inaugurating the line.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Altay said they had gathered for another important opening in Konya.

“Today, we are officially opening the 1.4-kilometer tram line running from the Courthouse to City Hospital. We have completed a project that local businesses in the area have been waiting for and that will make it easier for people visiting City Hospital, who previously had to transfer to reach the hospital,” he said.

Emphasizing that Konya has even bigger ambitions for its rail network, Altay said, “Konya is the first city in Anatolia to use a rail system. We began developing our rail system toward the end of the 1980s, and since then, we have made major investments in our city, which has developed a strong rail transportation culture, bringing the network to 27 kilometers.

“Today, we are opening 1.4 kilometers of the 21.1-kilometer network comprising the Alaaddin–City Hospital, City Hospital–Industrial Area and Stadium lines. But our work does not stop there. As the Metropolitan Municipality, we have undertaken the 10-kilometer section currently under construction from City Hospital to the New Industrial Area. The rail installation has now been completed, the poles have been erected, and the overhead wires are currently being tensioned. Once completed, we will open another 10-kilometer section extending to the New Industrial Area as the second phase.”

Altay said intensive work was also underway on the New Industrial Area–Stadium Line in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, noting that major infrastructure and structural works were being carried out along the route.

“First, we are constructing a grade-separated interchange at the TÜMOSAN Junction. At the Aksaray Road Interchange, both the existing road bridge and the bridge carrying the high-speed rail line need to be demolished and reconstructed. We are carrying out the necessary work on the connecting roads.

“Further along, on Sadık Ahmet Avenue in the Dormitory Area, we are working on the bridge beams in the section where the rail system will be elevated. Another major project is underway at the Bus Terminal Junction. At the Barış Avenue Junction, we are also carrying out a major project to take the rail system underground.

“Once these projects, with a total cost of more than 20 billion liras, are completed, we will have brought a new, uninterrupted 21.1-kilometer rail line to Konya, running from the Stadium through City Hospital to the Courthouse.

“We are carrying out this project together with the General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments. On behalf of the people of Konya, I would like to express my gratitude to our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, and our Director General of Infrastructure Investments, Yalçın Eyigün, who is with us today for the opening.”

Altay said the Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure were also undertaking several other major projects together.

“Our work with the ministry is not limited to this. We have also reached the final stage of work on a 19-kilometer rail system line beginning at Fetih–Ahmet Özcan Avenue, continuing through Şehir Avenue and Sivaslı Ali Kemal Avenue, and extending from Şehit Ömer Halisdemir Avenue toward the ring road. I hope our Director General will soon bring new good news to Konya, and we aim to begin construction on those projects as soon as possible,” he said.

Highlighting the progress being made on Konya’s rail system projects, Altay said, “We are closely following the process with the World Bank for an approximately 19-kilometer rail line that will begin at Fırat Avenue, continue through Beyhekim Hospital and Barış Avenue, initially reaching Kent Plaza Shopping Mall and later extending to the High-Speed Train Station.

“Another major infrastructure investment for Konya is KONYARAY. The rail installation on the first 23-kilometer section, running from Meram Station to Pınarbaşı, has been physically completed. Work is now underway on the stations, while the signaling systems will also be completed. At the same time, as the Metropolitan Municipality, we are continuing the process of procuring the trains.

“In other words, through the Barış Avenue Tram Line, KONYARAY and the City Hospital–Stadium Tram Line alone, we are currently building a total of 57 kilometers of rail lines. From the 27 kilometers of rail system infrastructure we built between the 1980s and 2026, we are now adding more than twice that amount and significantly expanding Konya’s rail network.”

Altay concluded his remarks by thanking residents for their patience and support.

“These are major investments that will become part of the history of our city. I would like to thank the people of Konya for their courtesy and patience throughout this process.

“From the very beginning, the people of Konya have given strong support to our President and our AK Party, not only in the city center but also across all our districts, strengthening our hand. Whenever we sit at the table, we do so with the pride of having come first in every election. Wherever we go, we see the reflection of this support.

“For this reason, I would like to thank the people of Konya for their strong support for our President and our AK Party. This support will continue to return to Konya in the form of services and investments.

“We are working day and night to reach our target of 114 kilometers. The effort is ours; victory belongs to God.”

Yalçın Eyigün, General Director of Infrastructure Investments at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, said it was a great honor for him to serve Konya.

Drawing on examples from major cities around the world, Eyigün said rail systems should function as an interconnected network rather than a series of isolated lines.

“If you look at the rail networks in Tokyo, Moscow, Paris and London, we call them rail networks for a reason. They should form a network, like a web.

“Of course, in large metropolitan areas, a rail system starts with a single line. In Konya, it began with the Selçuk University–Alaaddin line and the Alaaddin–Courthouse line, forming an L shape.

“But as a city grows, what do we want to see? Not an L, but an O — a circle, with interconnected rings. We want to see radial lines as well.

“Today, the 1.4-kilometer section in Konya may be short, but it is a critical piece in completing the ring and creating the network. Because next, we are talking about City Hospital, the New Industrial Area and the Stadium.

“Konya is therefore moving beyond individual linear lines toward a genuine rail network of rings, radial routes and circular connections — the kind of system a true world city deserves.

“Our mayor mentioned that we are adding 57 kilometers to the existing 27 kilometers. That is a very significant increase. No city in the world has suddenly added two and a half times its existing rail system network. This is an exemplary project.

“Hopefully, within the next few years, we will open more than 50 kilometers of these lines together and begin using this network together.”

Konya Governor İbrahim Akın said Konya continued to grow through projects shaping the city’s future.

“In this regard, our city continues to set an example by leading the way in urban development, public transportation and rail system investments, while also becoming a center of attraction and accessibility for the entire region,” he said.

Expressing his satisfaction with the opening of the new line, Governor Akın said, “This first section will make transportation to and from the city center much more comfortable, seamless and faster for people visiting our hospital, healthcare workers and our students, who are the guarantee of our future.

“In the next stages, the line will continue toward the industrial area and the stadium, forming the first and most critical link in the major vision of connecting our city with an extensive rail network.

“We have reached this stage through the strength of our state, the efforts of our local governments, and the patience and support of you, our fellow citizens of Konya.

“I express my gratitude to our President, who has taken our country into a new era in transportation as in every other field. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments, Konya Metropolitan Municipality, and everyone involved in the project, from our engineers to our workers.

“I hope our new tram line and rail system network will bring prosperity and benefit to Konya and all its residents.”

Following the speeches, the Courthouse–City Hospital Tram Line was officially opened with a prayer.

The ceremony was attended by AK Party Konya MPs Orhan Erdem and Mustafa Hakan Özer; Karatay District Governor Cengiz Ayhan; Selçuklu Mayor Ahmet Pekyatırmacı; Karatay Mayor Hasan Kılca; Meram Deputy Mayor Ahmet Melih Güçlü; AK Party Konya Provincial Executive Board members Kazım Küçükçöğen, Emre Salur and Mevlüt Köşek; MHP Konya Provincial Chairman Sedat Göncü; BBP Deputy Provincial Chairman Mehmet Atasagun; Selçuklu AK Party District Chairman Arif Bağcı; and Provincial Police Chief Necmettin Koç.