ANKARA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) said on Monday that the country's first high-speed train will begin test runs in June, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

    "The high-speed train service would start in 2008 if the test runs between capital Ankara and central Anatolian province of Eskisehir were conducted successfully," said the report, quoting TCDD's Director General Suleyman Karaman.

    Karaman noted that the Ankara-Eskisehir line was completed, andthe TCDD planned to start the construction of Eskisehir-Istanbul line this year.

    Referring to similar high-speed train projects in other countries, Karaman said the countries generally preferred to construct the first line between the capital city and an industrial hub.

    "Therefore, we have started the construction work between Ankara and Istanbul," he said.

    Meanwhile, he said that the infrastructure of the high-speed train project between Ankara and central Anatolian province of Sivas was almost finished.

    "With this project, it will take two hours to travel from Ankara to Sivas, and such line has significance as it will connect Turkey's east to the west," he said.

    Moreover, with the implementation of high-speed train service, modern stations would be built across the country, said the report, adding that the first modern train station complex, which would include a hotel and a shopping mall, would be constructed in Ankara.

    Turkey started building high-speed rail lines between Ankara and Istanbul in 2003. The first phase of the project was the line between Ankara and Eskisehir. High-speed train will lower the 180-minute train travel from Ankara to Eskisehir to 70 minutes, said the report.

    TCDD purchased first high-speed train sets, with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour, from Spain's CAF company last year, it added.