The 71 km route with three stations would be designed to enable passenger trains to run at 160 km/h and freight at 120 km/h. The new border crossing would relieve congestion at the existing Svilengrad – Kapıkule crossing. Around 15 to 20 km of new alignment would be needed to link the planned border crossing to the Istanbul Halkalı – Kapıküle main line. The existing main line from Turkey to the EU border is currently being upgraded in an ongoing programme which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. This is intended to cut the journey time for passenger trains between Istanbul and the Bulgarian border from 4 h to 1½ h and for freight trains from 8½ h to 3½ h.