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Eastern Express (Doğu Ekspresi) is a sleeper train that runs between Ankara-Kars, averaging 80 km per hour and completing its journey in 26 hours! It is a slow and long journey across Eastern Anatolia. While it is not a fast train journey with today’s new high speed trains, it is one of the most popular train routes in […]

Ankara Train Station is the main train station belonging to TCDD (Turkish State Railways), located on Celâl Bayar Boulevard, next to Ankara Station, in the Hacı Bayram District of Ankara’s Altındağ district. After a long rebuilding process, Ankara Train Station was reopened with its renovated and extraordinary architecture. The historic TCDD Ankara Train Station, a kilometer […]

Turkey’s high-speed trains also known as Yüksek Hızlı Tren (YHT), is a modern marvel of Turkish engineering. It links the bustling city of Istanbul with the capital, Ankara. This 533-km (331-mile) journey is made in about 4 to 5 hours.

The Turkish railway system is highly developed, connecting cities all around the country. Turkey has three main types of train routes with different goals, each serving a different purpose. 

Turkey’s high-speed trains (Yüksek Hızlı Tren, YHT) speed between Ankara and Konya ten times daily in each direction (starting about 06:40 am, with the last train about 21:4 (9:40 pm), covering the 290-km (180-mile) distance in less than 1-3/4 hours (compared to more than four hours for the bus, or driving). It can be difficult to find the train timetables on the Turkish State Railways […]

Ankara, Turkey’s capital city, is important to diplomats, bureaucrats, lobbyists, and the military, and has a lot of significant sights for visitors. The city now sprawls through valleys and across hills in every direction, but on your visit, you need only be concerned with a few specific areas, such as Ulus, Çankaya, Kızılay, Altındağ. Ankara’s […]

Interrail passes and Eurodomino rail passes sold by Rail Europe are valid in Turkey, but the TCDD Train Tour Card (see below) is probably a lot cheaper. The Balkan Flexipass available from Rail Europe (good for Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro) is also valid in Turkey. Train Tour Cards Turkish State Railways (TCDD) offers Train Tour Cards(Tren Tur Kartları) good for 30 days’ unlimited travel on the entire Turkish […]

Ankara, the national capital of Turkey, is a bustling city with a well-developed public transport system that includes metro stations, bus lines, and public buses, making it easy to navigate the city centre and beyond. The city’s transport network is a crucial hub in Central Anatolia, connecting various regions through train, plane, bus, and highway […]

Traveling by train has been a popular transportation choice in Turkey for many years. Train services in Turkey offer affordable and comfortable trips throughout the major cities. Buying a train ticket might take a lot of work for foreigners. However, we will be going through each step together in this guide. You may be able […]

Here are the main line traditional trains of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD Taşımacılık) operating as of May 2018 listed in alphabetical order by train name. Click here for trains listed by city of departure. For the High-Speed Trains connecting Istanbul, Ankara, Eskişehir and Konya, see the High-Speed Trains pages. Names are stations, not cities: Alsancak = İzmir Basmane = İzmir Halkalı = Istanbul (Europe) Pendik = Istanbul (Anatolia) Mo = Monday Tu = Tuesday We = Wednesday Th = Thursday […]

Tthe Güney Kurtalan Ekspresi (Southern Express) runs between Ankara, Diyarbakır and Kurtalan (just west of Siirt). Despite its express name, this is a slow train, stopping at every station along the way, incuding Kayseri, Sivas, Malatya, Diyarbakır and many stations in between. It hauls reserved and unreserved compartment cars, Pullman cars, a couchette car, and a sleeping car, usually fairly old equipment—this is not the most comfortable train. The train departs Ankara at 10:55 am on […]

Trains have been a long part of Turkish history for transportation between major cities, and there are many reasons for it. Train service in Turkey is much more affordable, reliable, and provides a comfortable journey between cities compared to other transportation methods. You can use the Turkish State Railways (TCDD, DDY) route system to travel […]

Turkey’s high-speed trains (Yüksek Hızlı Tren, YHT) on the route between Istanbul and Konya also transport passengers to and from Eskişehir and Konya (1 hour 30 minutes, one-way/single fare: TL25 normal, TL35 business class). Here is the schedule as of May 1, 2018: Depart Eskişehir Arrive Konya Depart Konya Arrive Eskişehir 10:05 11:46 06:50 08:34 15:10 16:51 12:55 14:41 21:00 22:41 17:45 19:31 It can be difficult to […]

The Pamukkale Ekspresi is a daytime train that links Denizli(near Pamukkale) to the Istanbul High-Speed Train station at Eskişehir. You can take the 06:45 am High-Speed Train from Istanbul(Pendik) to Eskişehir, arriving at 09:37 am, then change trains to the Pamukkale Ekspresi which departs Eskişehir at 10:00 am, stops at Kütahya (11:35 am) and Afyon (13:26/1:26 pm), and arrives in Denizli at 17:56 (5:56 pm). From Denizli, the Pamukkale Ekspresi departs at 08:00 am, departs Afyon at 12:33 pm, and […]

Turkish State Railways offers discounts for children, students, soldiers, seniors (60 and up), and for passengers on round-trips (return trips) on its main lines: Children Children from infants through 6 years old ride free. Kids 7 to 12 pay 50% of the adult fare. Students & Teachers 20% discount for students and teachers, but you may need a Turkish student or teacher […]

Istanbul – Konya High-Speed​​Train (YHT – Yüksek Hızlı Tren) is the High-Speed ​​Train operated by TCDD Taşımacılık (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları – Turkish Republic State Railways) on the route of Söğütlüçeşme – Konya.

Each compartment in a Turkish State Railways (TCDD) sleeping car (yataklı vagon) converts to sleep two people. Each compartment has a sink with running hot and cold water for washing face and hands, a tiny towel and bar of soap, mirror, clothes hangers, luggage rack, smallcabinet, window to the outside (with roll-up blind and thick velvet light-blocking curtain), heating, fan or air conditioning, and a waste receptacle. The 220-volt […]

Over a century ago, the Orient Express connected Paris and Constantinople, and luxury trains were the preferred means of travel from Europe through the Balkans to Turkey. In the latter half of the 20th century, train travel was in decline because of competition from international air and bus travel. The last train called the Orient Express—far from luxurious and a mere […]

The Turkish State Railways website can be difficult to use. It should be easy for the millions of annual foreign visitors to Turkey to get information on the country’s superb high-speed trains, but so far it is not. Here are all of the high-speed train schedules as of 5 April 2018. Translations: YHT Hareket Saatleri = High-Speed Train […]

Alsancak Gar (Alsancak Station), built in the 19th century for trains going to the wealthy suburbs of Bornova, Buca, etc., is now İzmir‘s main terminus for intercity trains such as the Konya Mavi Tren, the nightly sleeper train between İzmir and Konya; the Karesi Ekspresi and İzmir Mavi Tren from Ankara via Eskişehir, Kütahya, Balıkesir and Manisa; the 6 Eylül Ekspresi and 17 Eylül Ekspresi between İzmir and Bandırma (for the fast ferryboat to Istanbul); and the Ege Ekspresi (İzmir-Manisa-Balıkesir) and Uşak Ekspresi (İzmir-Manisa-Uşak). Alsancak station has ticket windows, an […]