The Boğaziçi Express () was a named

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

operated between

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

until 2012, when it was shortened between

Arifiye Arifiye is a municipality and district of Sakarya Province, Turkey. Its area is 75 km2, and its population 49,340 (2022). It covers the southernmost part of the agglomeration of Adapazarı and the adjacent countryside. Geography Arifiye is ...

and Ankara then later Arifiye to Eskişehir. The train was discontinued on 24 July 2014 and replaced by high-speed YHT trains. Despite having ''Express'' in its name, the train served as many local stations between Arifiye and Ankara and was popular among students due to its low fare.

History

The Boğaziçi Express made its inaugural run from

Haydarpaşa Terminal Haydarpaşa is a locality within the Kadıköy and Üsküdar districts on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. Haydarpaşa is named after Ottoman Vizier Haydar Pasha. The place, on the coast of Sea of Marmara, borders to Harem in the northwest and ...

Ankara station Ankara railway station () is the main railway station in Ankara, Turkey, and is a major transportation hub within the city. The station is on the rail corridor which connects east and west Turkey, which is high speed between Istanbul and Sivas. ...

on 1 June 1968 with brand new railcars from

CIWL (; ) is a Belgian-founded French company known for providing and operating luxury trains with sleepers and dining cars during the late 19th and the 20th centuries, most notably the ''Orient Express''. Founded by Georges Nagelmackers in 1872, CI ...

as one of the State Railways' premier trains. The cost of a single ticket was 32 liras ($3.55 at the time), while a round-trip ticket cost 56 liras ($6.22). Motive power for the train was diesel for the entire route, even after of track from Istanbul to Arifiye was electrified in 1977. The train was the victim of several accidents during its lifetime, most notably on 4 January 1979 near Esenkent when the train collided with the

Anatolian Express The Anatolian Express (, ) was one of the four direct train services operating between Istanbul and Ankara. The train was an overnight train consisting of eight sleeping cars and one dining car. The train was the first non-international train to co ...

, killing 19 and injuring 124 people. When TCDD electrified the entire Istanbul-Ankara railway in December 1993, the Boğaziçi Express was given electric motive power. The first electrified train, pulled by E40002, departed Haydarpaşa at 08:00 on 26 December 1993. TCDD also equipped its new

TVS2000 The TÜVASAŞ 2000, more commonly known as TVS2000, is a series of intercity railcars built by TÜVASAŞ for the Turkish State Railways between 1993 and 2005. They were built in order to revive TCDD's failing image in the early 1990s, for use on t ...

railcars, that had been built in order to improve the railway's image. The limited express service of the train changed a few years later and became one of the local intercity trains operating between Istanbul and Ankara, stopping at most stations. On 25 August 2004, TCDD discontinued the train citing low ridership, however after a public backlash occurred the train was revived and began operations on 27 September. Once the Ankara-Eskişehir high-speed railway was opened in March 2009, several trains operating between Istanbul and Ankara were cut back to Eskişehir. The Boğaziçi Express however, continued its full journey between the two cities until 1 February 2012, when it was shorted by from Istanbul to Arifiye, due to construction works between Gebze and Sapanca for high-speed train service. Two months later, on 2 April, the train was shortened again, this time from Ankara to Eskişehir, due construction for Ankara's

Başkentray Başkentray (), formerly known as the Ankara suburban (), is the name of the long commuter rail line in Ankara, Turkey. It is operated by TCDD Taşımacılık on trackage owned by the Turkish State Railways. History The portion of the rail l ...

commuter rail service. The Boğaziçi Express ran between Arifiye and Eskişehir () for two more years until it was discontinued on 24 July 2014 with the opening of the Istanbul-Eskişehir extension of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway.

References

{{TCDD Routes Named passenger trains of Turkey Railway services discontinued in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Turkey Transport in Istanbul Province Transport in Kocaeli Province Transport in Sakarya Province Transport in Eskişehir Province Transport in Ankara Province