Rail Travel in Turkey

Foreword

This short "frequently asked questions" is meant for the west European citizen travelling to Turkey. This text was written by private individuals based on their personal experiences. The comments are completely subjective and slightly biased towards TCDD. At the end of the day I would encourage any serious railfan to make a trip to Turkey.

No responsibility can be endorsed for the comments made hereunder. It is the readers' duty to check the local conditions upon arrival and make the best of it!

Content

Q1) Why should I go to Turkey anyway?

Any serious railfan ought to go to Turkey:

• The network, fully single track is quite large with about 8000km. An east west cross-country trip from Istanbul to Kars or Kurtalan is almost 2000 km and can be done without changing train. The network runs through mountain scenery with some of the most difficult passes in Europe.
• Heavy diesel in action can be seen everywhere, either on passengers or on heavy iron ore block trains. The busiest lines have up to 50 main line trains a day.
• Train operation is a mix of modern technology and Orientals habits, giving a unique flavor quite different to the sleek and cold operation encountered in Western Europe. The trains are on average comfortable and often have a restaurant car.
• The people are always nice and welcoming. The way of life is very pleasant (yes, one can easily get a bier after a long day of train spotting in the sun!)
• Finally, the current exchange rate is to the advantage of the European travelers and living cost in Turkey will appear cheap.

Q2) Where can I find TCDD timetables?

TCDD sometimes publishes printed timetables. This does not occur every year and the book is near to impossible to find. In addition, TCDD most zealous employee treats timetables as state secret.

Currently, the best official information is available either:

• on internet through TCDD officials web site (see the link page). TCDD has since 2003 a new website, quite comprehensive. An English translation was added in early 2006. Express and international train timetable are available in English. Unfortunately, local train timetables are not translated into English. Follow "Yurtiçi Yolcu Taşımacılığı" to find these timetables. The timetable are self explenatory. Use our dictionary to translate the key words.
• At the station of departure.

An unofficial timetable compiled by railfans is also available in the file section of Turk-Rail.

Q3) Should I make seat reservation?

Most of the trains can be boarded without reservation. Reservation is advised and compulsory on some trains, it must be checked when buying the tickets. Trains can be busy but almost never full.

Peak rushes occur at time of public holidays. On those few days, trains can be packed.

Of course, reservations are mandatory for sleeping cars.

Q4) Where to buy tickets and reservations?

Buying tickets and reservations is the most frustrating experience one can have in Turkey due to the lack of a proper computerized ticketing system. The simplest way is to buy the ticket / reservation from the point of departure. However, reservation can be a problem for connecting trains since TCDD clerks do this over the phone with the departure station of the connecting trains.

Clerks usually don't speak English but are most of the time friendly and welcoming to the foreigners. They will always try their best to help and find solutions. Very often, another passenger will step up to help with the translation.

Q5) Are the trains on time?

Time keeping is not all that good and a train arriving within one hour of its schedule would be considered on time. The entire network is single track and some lines are quite busy with freight traffic, Trains crossings is difficulty to plan and a train path is easily lost.

Horror stories of trains behind schedule by more than 24h abound. The fact is that cross-country trains such as Erzurum or Tatvan to Istanbul can be very late in winter when the trains are held back by snow and mudslides. This happens once or twice a year. In summer time, a delay by more than a couple of hours would be very rare.

Q6) When is the best weather in Turkey?

One can travel all year around in Turkey. Turkey has a so-called continental weather either very hot or very cold but sunny most of the time. Snow and sub-zero temperature are encountered on the network from mid December to mid March. But even in winter, the sky remains clear, fog is rare and some of the best pictures have been taken at that time. The temperature in summer is quite high and the light is very strong. Either summer or winter, poor photographers like myself will end up with over contrasted pictures and part of the subject in darkness.

Spring and autumn are the best in my opinion: the weather is still warm, even hot but nights are cool. Spring has the added benefit of green nature and longer daylight. Speaking of nature, it gets sunburned (and brownish) in late may / June everywhere except along the Black Sea coast. Finally one must bear in mind that the network stretch from north to south: Adana area will be in the twenties degrees almost year around whereas Erzincan can be under snow very late. This can be useful to amend a trip at the last minute according to weather condition.

Q7) Is a photo permit required to shoot trains?

In theory, a photo permit is required. But this permit is almost impossible to get. In addition, being issued by TCDD Ankara headquarter, it might not be recognized in all locations!

In practice: the best is to ask locally for photo permission to whoever looks in charge, it is usually granted. In addition, one might get invited to the customary tea. If nobody is around, go ahead and make pictures. These days, the authorities are very tolerant with tourists and at worst, somebody will come and ask you to put away the camera.

However, three pieces of advice:

• Never make a picture at anything that looks (even remotely) military.
• Stay within public areas (platform, road, overpass,...). Stay outside sidings, depots and TCDD right of way unless invited by TCDD personnel.
• Safety first: stay safe from the trains at all time and don't attempt jay walking on the tracks.

Q8) Can I reach Turkey by train from Western Europe?

Although the Orient-Express no longer reaches Istanbul, it is currently fairly easy to enter Turkey by train from Bulgaria. The border is crossed at Kapıkule, near Edirne. One of the classical routes is via Vienna, Budapest, Bucharesti, Sofia and Istanbul. It might now be possible again to go via Belgrade and Niş. For further information regarding connection to reach Istanbul, please refer to "the Man in seat sixty-one" (See the link page).

It also possible to enter Turkey from Greece: from Thessaloniki up to Pithion. From there the border is crossed to Uzunköy and to Pehlivanköy the junction on the Edirne Istanbul main line.

Q9) Can I cross the border to go further East?

Border situation can change very quickly. It is strongly advised to check train schedule prior to departing. Turkey is well served by bus and mini-bus and this is always an alternative in case of train cancellation.

Currently, a hardened traveler can cross to Iran and to Syria by bus or by train:

• A direct car is advertised as running twice a week from Van to Teheran. The border is crossed between Kapıköy and Razi, near the Iranian town of Quotur. This car might be replaced by a bus service from Van to the border.
• A direct car is running at least once a week from Narlı to Aleppo in Syria. The border is crossed between Tahtaköprü and Meydan Ekbez, shortly after Fevzipaşa. this car can come either from Tatvan via Malatya or Istanbul via Adana. There is no scheduled passenger train to enter Syria from Nusaybin to Al Quamishli. But it might still be possible to cross the border there by bus.

A good B plan to Syria is to travel down to Iskenderun using a local from Adana. From there, by bus to Antakya and Aleppo. Visiting the highly interesting Antakya can make-up for the inconvenience of the bus (not counting the saved time as well).

It is worth to note that the trains are timed to allow a convenient connection from Aleppo to Teheran via Turkey! I cannot believe that this paper timetable paradise translates into actual international trains connections but this trip has been confirmed in February 2007.

It is not possible to cross the border to Armenia by train.

Q10) Is it safe to travel by train in Turkey?

TCDD are as safe as any other trains in Europe, perhaps even safer. Stolen wallets or luggage are unheard of. Even in the worst suburb trains, the crowd is not as aggressive as it could be on certain West European trains. Of course, one must not take unnecessary risks and stay on the watch, as any traveler should do.

Derailments, some level crossing crashes and other accidents occur on TCDD metals, but due to the low speed of the trains, casualties are minimal. TCDD had not had a major accident for years. TCDD safety track record is as good as any other major operator in Europe. Safety is not a concern, except for earthquakes.

Q11) Where can I find live steam operations?

TCDD is keeping many steam engines in (more or less) running condition but there is unfortunately no regular scheduled live steam currently in Turkey. Not even for touristic purpose.

The steam engines are sometime used on chartered trains but the timetable of those trains is next to impossible to get. Plinthed engines can be seen everywhere, in front of most major stations as well as in museums.

Q12) Where should I go?

The classical trip by train goes as follows:
Istanbul to Ankara. Ankara to Zonguldak and back. Ankara to Kars (Sivas for the less courageous). From Kars, back to Çetinkaya and then down Malatya. Malatya to Adana. Adana to Afyon. Afyon to Izmir via Aydın. Izmir back to Istanbul via Manissa.

This is a quite long trip and it can be shortened using night trains. This trip leaves out some very interesting branches: Sivas to Samsun, the line to Van lake, ... These lines can be done on a return trip.

Q13) Is Turkish langage difficult?

Yes, Turkish langage is very different from the other European languages. However, most people dealing with tourist such as hotel employees will speak a minimun of English or German.

Railway technical terms are often easier because they are frequently derived from French or English words. As a help, you can use the dictionary of common rail words compiled by TrainsofTurkey.com readers.

Q14) Is here anything to see in Istanbul?

Istanbul has two terminal stations Sirkeci and Haydarpaşa, each with enough traffic to keep a railfan busy for a day. The train ferry linking the two stations is quite unique too.
I strongly recommend to visit Istanbul before the tunnel under the Bosphorus is openned, this tunnel, the Marmarail, once openned will have profound impact on Istanbul terminal stations as we know them today.

In Sirkeci, the must to spot are the old E8000 EMU, sill busy commuting to Halkalı. The E8000 are nearly 50 years old and are real museum grade material. The best would be a ride to Halkalı, which is not very far. Halkalı serve both as a depot and freight yard for Istanbul.

If you go to the Topkapı Palace Museum, have lunch at the Konyalı; Restaurant within its compound and make sure to sit at a table on the edge of the wall. You can watch the rail line bordered by the centuries-old walls of the citadel with the Bosphorus as the backdrop. The leads (headshunt?) of the Sirkeci yard are also visible here.

Then take a boat to cross the Bosphorus to Haydarpaşa. Haydarpaşa depot and yard can be seen from the road overpass. There, a trip to Adapazarı. If your are really lucky, the train might be pulled by one of the last E40000 still in service but days for these locos are numbered too.

If you have more time, you should push to Birecik, or even Eskişehir. There, you might see some diesel action.

Finally, don't forget to visit the Rami Koç museum. Reserve at least half a day for this place. The museum displays more than a century of industrial jewels, including a TCDD G10. They have a real nice up-scale restaurant and cafe. Lunch would be recommended. You can take one of the smaller city boats to "Hasköy"; (I think). The Golden Horn is slowly becoming a place for tourists, as heavy industry is moving elsewhere