Turkish PM Erdogan in the maiden voyage of Ankara - Istanbul high-speed rail line

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 25: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan go by High-Speed Train to Eskisehir within the maiden voyage of Ankara - Istanbul high-speed rail line at Ankara Central railway station in Ankara, Turkey on July 25, 2014. High-speed train services are launched their rail line between the capital city of Ankara and Istanbul. The services were first introduced on March 13, 2009 between the capital Ankara and the western province of Eskisehir, realizing the country's decades-long ambition with Turkey becoming the eighth country in the world with a high-speed rail service. It was followed by another line between Eskisehir and the central province of Konya, which opened on March 23, 2013. The new train service immediately became a popular means of transit with over 15 million passengers since their launch. Turkish State Railways had announced on January that it will invest almost half of its 2014 budget (1.8 billion lira) in high-speed train projects. It is expected that the travel time from Ankara to Istanbul will be shortened to 3 hours via the high-speed train. (Photo by Murat Kula/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)