Forgotten lines

Foreword

This page intends to cover TCDD main lines and branches that were once opened to passenger traffic and are now closed or disused. Industrial or military branches are currently excluded.

The network being under developed to start with, very few lines have been closed so far; consequently this section is currently quite short. But many lines have minimal traffic and as TCDD's financial situation deteriorates (along with that of the State), many lines may die out in a not so distant future.

Standard gauge

Gaziemir - Seydikoy

This 1,4 km branch was opened by the ORC together with the Alsancak -Gaziemir main line on October 20, 1858.

This branch was closed in early 1980's when the Aydin highway was upgraded from 4 to 6 lanes. It is confirmed that this branch was in operation as late as 1977. Most of the tracks are still existing. It is covered by grass and plants. Seydiköy station is now a children playground, but still recognizable.

Sütlaç - Çivril

This 31km line branches off the Izmir to Dinar ORC mainline at Sütlaç. It reaches Çivril, a large village. It opened to traffic in December 1889, a few months after the Dinar line itself.

Although not officially closed, reports indicates that the track is clearly out of use. The track is still in place but the rails are overgrown by grass and covered by dirt.

According to trains spotters who visited the area yearly, the line was last still in service in September 1988. At that time 57001 and 57013 were on duty, both engines provided by Dinar depot. Then, in November 1988, the traffic on the line was suspended and the locos were transfered to Afyon.

Bozanönü - Eğirdir

This is the last 32km of the ORC main line. The Km post "470+371", which is still visible on the station nameplate, is measured from Izmir and reminds us of this fact. However, Eğirdir remained a small city with no industry to speak of and the traffic never materialized. When TCDD opened the branch to Burdur and Isparta in 1936, Eğirdir line became in effect a secondary branch.

This branch was cumbersome to operate: trains usually made a detour along the Isparta line before going to Eğirdir. Freight traffic was nil and passenger traffic minimal. Operation was dropped in 2003; the fact that it remained that long is already some sort of miracle.

As of 2006, the track was still in place but overgrown by grass. The last kilometers of this branch, where the line hangs over the magnificent lake of Eğirdir, are highly scenic. This would be a perfect spot for a tourist operation using vintage stock and (why not?) steam engines…

Bornova - Ege University

In 1980, the TCDD extended the Halkapinar-Bornova line beyond Bornova to Ege University campus. This extension was dropped in the 1990's (to be confirmed) when 373th street was broadened to 4 lanes. The traffic on this extension was supposedly not sufficient to justify building an overpass over the widened 373th street.

The Halkapinar Bornova line has since been transferred to Izmir metro and is now used has part of the city light rail transit.

Hadimköy - Kurukavak

This branch from Hadimköy to Kurukavak (between Istanbul and Çerkezköy) was opened by TCDD on 23 April 1941. Its length in official documents is reported as 10.936 km. It is likely that this branch was built for military purposes such as access to a base. The end point was actually near Yassiören.

This short branch was disused when the main line was realigned through a tunnel under Hadimköy. Hadimköy station itself is also no longer used.

Sirinyer - Buca

Narrow gauge

All TCCD narrow gauge railways are now closed. There were two lines:

Bursa Mudanya	42km meter gauge line closed in 1948.
Samsun Çarşamba	15 km, 750mm gauge closed in 1971