Halkapınar Transfer Center ( tr, Halkapınar Aktarma Merkezi), commonly referred to as Halkapınar Metro or just Halkapınar, is a multi-modal transportation complex in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

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

. Located in northeast Konak, it is the largest transportation complex in

, as well as the

Aegean Region The Aegean Region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

. The complex offers connections between

İZBAN İZBAN, previously known as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area, mainly on a north–south axis, via two lines: The Northern Line (IZBAN), Northern Line and the Southern Line (IZBAN), Southern Line. Averagin ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service,

İzmir Metro İzmir Metro ( tr, İzmir Metrosu) is a metro system in İzmir, Turkey that is in the process of being extended with new stations being put in service. The current system, consisting of one line, starts from Fahrettin Altay station Göztepe in th ...

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

service,

Tram İzmir Tram İzmir, alternatively known as İzmir Tram ( tr, İzmir Tramvayı), is a tram network in İzmir, Turkey. Owned by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and operated by İzmir Metro A.Ş., the system consists of two separate, unconnected lines ...

tram service and

ESHOT Elektrik Su Havagazı Otobüs Troleybüs ( en, Electricity, Water, Coal Gas, Bus, Trolleybus) or ESHOT is a bus service operating in the İzmir. ESHOT, along with İZULAŞ are the two main bus transit service in İzmir. Buses serve all districts, ...

city bus service. Halkapınar Transfer Center was originally opened in 1865 as a railway station. The transfer center opened on 22 May 2000 together with a new metro station and bus terminals and was the first complex to offer direct connection between

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...

and rapid transit service in Turkey.

History

The oldest part of Halkapınar Transfer Center is the railway station. Originally built by the

Smyrna Cassaba Railway The Smyrne Cassaba & Prolongements (English:''Smyrna Cassaba & Prolongations''), formerly The Smyrna Cassaba Railway, was a railway company operating in Western Anatolia from 1863 to 1934. History The Ottoman Government gave a concession to build ...

(SCP), Halkapınar railway station opened on 20 July 1865 along with the railway from

Basmane Basmane railway station ( tr, Basmane Garı) is an intercity and regional railway terminal and rapid transit station in İzmir, Turkey. Along with Alsancak station, Basmane is one of two railway terminals in the city. All TCDD Taşımacılık tra ...

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a district of İzmir Province in Turkey. The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of İzmir. Its centre is at a distance of to the north from the traditional cen ...

and

Bornova Bornova is a metropolitan district of İzmir in İzmir Province in Turkey. It is the third largest district in İzmir's Greater Metropolitan Area of and is almost fully urbanized at the rate of 98.6 percent, with corresponding high levels of devel ...

. Halkapınar station was located just before the Bornova line diverged off the mainline to Karşıyaka and later

Afyon Afyonkarahisar (, tr, afyon "poppy, opium", ''kara'' "black", ''hisar'' "fortress") is a city in western Turkey, the capital of Afyonkarahisar Province, Afyon Province. Afyon is in the mountainous countryside inland from the Aegean Sea, Aegean c ...

. The SCP was bought by the

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey ...

in 1934, which continued to operate commuter trains that stopped at Halkapınar. In a plan to improve rail service around İzmir, the city municipality began planning a commuter rail and rapid transit network. Halkapınar was designated to become the primary transfer point between the two systems. In 1994, the State Railways sold the

Bornova Branch The Bornova Railway Branch was a 5.9 km long railway line, from Halkapınar to Bornova, Turkey, that branched from the SCP's main line at Halkapınar. The line was completed by the Smyrne Cassaba & Prolongements in 1866. TCDD absorbed the SCP ...

to the city of İzmir, which began construction of the İzmir Metro along its right-of-way. Construction of the İzmir Metro saw the addition of two new platforms and a maintenance facility at Halkapınar. The new facilities were completed in 1999 and Halkapınar Transfer Center officially opened on 22 May 2000. In anticipation for expanded commuter service to Aliağa, Halkapınar station was electrified with

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

. The station was electrified in 2001, but never used. In 2006, plans for a new commuter railsystem, İZBAN, were finalized and the rehabilitation of the railway began. Between 2006 and 2010 Halkapınar saw a suspension of heavy rail trains, due to the construction of railway tunnels in Şirinyer and

. Service returned on 5 December 2010, with the inauguration of the

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, two ...

Çiğli Çiğli (''Silleon'' in Greek) is a metropolitan district of İzmir in western Turkey. It covers the northern end of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality around the mouth of the River Gediz, across the Gulf of İzmir from the main city. The Gediz delt ...

. Ever since İZBAN began operating, Halkapınar has become the busiest station in İzmir and one of the busiest stations in Turkey. In order to accommodate the thousands of daily passengers, a second overpass was built to the east of the existing one in 2013. In 2016, Halkapınar saw a total of over 24 million boardings.

Layout

Halkapınar has a total of five

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

s serving nine tracks, three for metro and four for heavy rail in the main complex and two in the tram stop. The two platforms on the southern side are for İzmir Metro trains on the

Fahrettin Altay—Evka 3 Line Fakhr al-Din ( ar, فخر الدين ) is an Arabic male given name and (in modern usage) a surname, meaning ''pride of the religion''. Alternative transliterations include Fakhruddin , Fakhreddin, Fakhreddine, Fakhraddin, Fakhruddin, Fachreddin, ...

. Out of the other two platforms, the south platform (adjacent to the İzmir Metro platforms), is for İZBAN commuter trains, while the fourth platform is currently used for parking the freight stock. Prior to 2016, that platform was used by

intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

and

regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are public transport, passenger rail transport, rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail ...

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 ...

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in Turkey and is the capital city of Balıkesir Province. Balıkesir is located in the Marmara region of Turkey and has a population of 338,936. Between 1341–1922, it was the capital of Karasi. History Close to mo ...

Bandırma Bandırma () is a city in northwestern Turkey with 161,894 inhabitants as of 2021 on the Sea of Marmara. Bandırma is a district of Balıkesir Province. Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the bay with the same name, and is a ...

Uşak Uşak (; el, Ουσάκειον, Ousakeion) is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. The city has a population of 500,000 (2016 census) and is the capital of Uşak Province. Uşak city is situated at a distance of from İ ...

and

Konya Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

. On both sides of the platforms are railyards. On the north side is a small freight yard, used by

TCDD Taşımacılık TCDD Taşımacılık A.Ş. ( en, TCDD Transport, reporting mark TCDDT) is a government-owned railway company responsible for the operations of most passenger and freight rail in Turkey. The company was formed on 14 June 2016, splitting off from th ...

, for freight trains using the nearby

Port of İzmir The Port of İzmir ( tr, İzmir Limanı), alternatively known as Port of Alsancak, is a seaport in İzmir, Turkey. It is situated in the Gulf of İzmir. History İzmir was an important port of the Ottoman Empire and the first quay was constructed ...

. On the south side is the İzmir Metro's Halkapınar Maintenance Facility, used for layovers and maintenance of their rolling stock. A new depot for

equipment has been built, next to the metro depot. Further south of the under construction tram depot is a bus garage, used by

, for their city bus fleet. City buses arrive and depart from two separate bus terminals, located on opposite sides of the complex. The larger bus terminal, with 9 bus bays and 17 halts, is located to the southwest, accessible via Şehitler Avenue. The majority of buses depart from this terminal. The second and smaller one, with 6 bus bays and 8 halts, is located on the north side of the complex and is accessible via 1561st Street. Both terminals are accessible via the main overpass, connecting all facilities of the transfer center. The tram station for the

Konak Tram Konak Tram ( tr, Konak Tramvayı) is a urban light rail transit (LRT) system in Konak district of Izmir, Turkey and is one of the two lines of Tram İzmir. The line serves 19 stations and began operating on 24 April 2018. The tram line runs b ...

is located on the southern side of the complex, along Şehitler Avenue. It is accessible via a walkway.

Bus Connections

* 102 Halkapınar Metro-Alpaslan * 168 Halkapınar Metro-Evka 4 via Osmangazi * 253 Halkapınar Metro-Konak via Talatpaşa Avenue * 501 Halkapınar Metro-Çiçek Mahallesi * 502 Halkapınar Metro-Cengizhan * 503 Halkapınar Metro-Barış Kahvesi * 504 Halkapınar Metro-F. Edip Baksı * 543 Halkapınar Metro-Bostanlı Transfer Station * 555 Halkapınar Metro- İZOTAŞ * 560 Halkapınar Metro-Pınarbaşı * 599 Halkapınar Metro-Borsa Okulu

Gallery

Halkapınar Train Station.jpg, The western end of the station.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkapinar Transfer Center Transfer Centers in Turkey Railway stations in İzmir Province Railway stations opened in 1865 1865 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Railway stations closed in 2006 Konak District İzmir Metro Proposed rapid transit stations in Turkey