The Karesi Express( tr, Karesi Ekspresi) is an overnight train, operating between Alsancak Terminal,

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 ...

and Central Station,

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 ...

. The train is one of two current train services between İzmir and Ankara. The eastbound journey takes about 14 hours and 16 minutes, while the westbound journey takes about 14 hours and 45 minutes. The Karesi Express services 6 provincial capitals:

, Manisa,

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 ...

Kütahya Kütahya () (historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion, Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, Porsuk river, at 969 metres above sea level. It is inhabited by some 578,640 people (2022 estimate) ...

, Eskişehir and

. When the Turkish State Railways opened the Balıkesir-Kütahya rail line on April 23, 1938 (connecting the former SCP and the CFOA lines), rail travel between İzmir and Ankara was possible. Ankara is the capital of

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 ...

while İzmir is the 3rd largest city in Turkey (2nd largest at the time), making transport between the two cities heavy. On April 23, 1938 the ''Karesi Express'' made its first run from İzmir to Ankara. The all pullman train made the 824 km long journey in about 18 hours. On April 1, 1972, another train was put into service between İzmir and Ankara: the

9th of September Express The 9th of September Express ( tr, 9 Eylül Ekspresi) was an overnight train, operated by the Turkish State Railways, from Basmane Terminal, İzmir to Ankara Central Station, Ankara. The name of the service refers to 9 September 1922, the date on w ...

. This train however had a

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. ...

. In 1980 the third train was put in service: The

İzmir Blue Train The İzmir Blue Train ( tr, İzmir Mavi Tren) is one of the 3, still operating, "'' Blue Train''" services. Historically the train was operating between Alsancak station in İzmir and Central Station in Ankara. But in 2006, due to construction w ...

. On 1 April 2013 the route of the Karesi Express was cut back to Balıkesir.No trains between Balikesir and Ankara for 2 and a half years
- yenihabergazetesi.net Since 2013 the train operates as a regional train between İzmir and Balıkesir. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the Karesi Express was suspended on 12 March 2021.

Name

The name "Karaesi Express" comes from the beylik of

Karasi Karasi (born 1995) is an Australian Racing Hall of Fame champion steeplechase horse bred in Ireland. The horse is best known for winning the world's richest steeplechase race, the Nakayama Grand Jump at Nakayama Racecourse, Japan for three ...

, that had its capital city in Balıkesir, a city which the Karesi Express passes through.

Consist

The consist of he train has changed many times through the years, since the first 4 car train left Ankara in 1938. These changes usually happen because of other trains being put into or removed from service. Today the consist usually is: * TCDD E68000 *3 TVS2000 Coaches *K70 Dining Car *2 TVS2000 Coaches *2 K60 Couchettes Between 2001 and 2009 the consist was: *DE22000 *TVS2000 Generator Car *4 Intercity coaches *Intercity diner *Intercity couchette The first consist that began service on April 23, 1938 consisted of: *Steam locomotive *Coach *Coach *Diner/Coach *Couchette

Gallery

E68016 Karesi.jpg, E68016 pulling a northbound train in Izmir.

References

{{TCDD Routes Named passenger trains of Turkey