The Capital Express ( tr, Başkent Ekspresi) was one of the six daily intercity trains operating between

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

and

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

on the Istanbul-Ankara railway before the

Yüksek Hızlı Tren Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT ( en, High Speed Train) is a high-speed rail service in Turkey, operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, and is the railway's premier intercity train service. As of 2022, the network spans and services major cities like ...

high-speed train service replaced all intercity trains on the line. The Capital Express was the fastest of the six trains, making limited stops only in large cities. The train would complete its journey in just over four hours and in the

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Bilecik to the northwest, Kütahya to the west, Afyon to the southwest, Konya to the south, Ankara to the east, and Bolu to the north. The provincia ...

, trains would reach conventional speeds of , which still hold the record for fastest conventional train service in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. When the high-speed rail service was opened between Ankara and

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

on 13 March 2009, the Capital Express, along with the other five intercity trains, were cut back between Istanbul and Eskişehir. During this period two more daily intercity trains were added, the Sakarya Express and Eskişehir Express, increasing daily intercity service to eight trains. On 31 January 2012, the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway between Istanbul and Arifye. When trackwork was completed in 2014, YHT high-speed service replaced the Capital Express all the way from Ankara to Istanbul.

History

By the early 1990s, the Turkish State Railways' already bad reputation was worsening. Even TCDD's flagship train, the Fatih Express, running from Istanbul to Ankara, was losing market share to buses and airlines. New modern buses as well as the construction of the Istanbul-Ankara highway nearing completion, made passengers choose bus over train for the route. Even though the Fatih Express made limited stops; the blue-red Pullman fleet, which the train used, was greatly unpopular with the public. The cars lacked proper suspension and air-conditioning, which made journeys in the summer very uncomfortable, due to the generally arid and hot climate of central

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

. In the winter, radiators on the train would burn uncontrollably, sometimes even melting shoes rested upon them. These problems forced the State Railways to introduce a new train service on the line. In 1992, the Capital Express was introduced with 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. These new railcars had new bogies with new suspension, which made journeys more comfortable. Along with better suspension, the railcars also had sound insulation, air-conditioning and automatic doors. When the entire Istanbul-Ankara railway was electrified in 1993, the Capital Express was able to operate at greater speeds, most notably between İnönü and

. The train became the State Railways' flagship service until 2009, when the Eskişehir-Ankara portion of the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway was opened and

high-speed passenger service became the pride of the TCDD. On 13 March 2009, the Capital Express was shortened by to Eskişehir and served as an extension of the YHT train service to Istanbul. On 31 January 2012, the Capital Express was discontinued due to the rehabilitation of the railway in Istanbul to accommodate new high-speed rail service.

References

{{TCDD Routes Passenger rail transport in Turkey 2012 disestablishments in Turkey Rail transport in Ankara Rail transport in Istanbul Railway services discontinued in 2012