TCDD Transport or Turkish State Railways 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

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

(TCDD) to take over railway operations, while TCDD would continue to administer railway infrastructure. TCDD Taşımacılık officially began operations on 1 January 2017. TCDD Taşımacılık operates trains on a network of over within 59 of the 81 provinces in Turkey.

Organisation

TCDD Taşımacılık is a government-owned company responsible for the operation of passenger and freight railways within Turkey, including logistical centers and train ferries
Tatvan-Van
using infrastructure owned and maintained by the

Passenger operations

TCDD Taşımacılık operates passenger rail service on most of its network. Passenger trains service most major cities in Turkey, although a few are without train service, such as

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

and

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

. TCDD Taşımacılık operates five types of passenger rail on its network: *High-speed (Yüksek Hızlı Tren): TCDD Taşımacılık's premier rail service. *Mainline (Anahat): Standard intercity passenger rail service, between major cities. *Regional (Bölgesel): Regional rail service, connecting major cities to surrounding cities, towns and villages. *Commuter (Banliyö): Commuter rail service within major cities. *International (Uluslararası): International train service to Europe.

List of TCDD Transport routes

TCDD Transport operates on the 12,532 km long Turkish rail network, and currently 90% is served by passenger trains.

High-speed services

Mainline services

The second main intercity service of the company are the mainline trains known as Express or Main Line (). These trains connect major Turkish cities throughout the country but they are progressively stopped as the YHT network expands.

=Blue Train

= The Blue Train () is the

premier passenger train service started in the 1980s. The first, simply called Blue 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 ( ...

, entering service in 1979. More Blue Train services were added later on. The İzmir Blue Train, Central Anatolia Blue Train, Çukurova Blue Train and 4th of September Blue Train were are overnight trains. These trains had custom railcars, built by TÜVASAŞ, all painted blue with a blue painted DE 24000 series locomotive pulling the train. The current remnant is just a branding with regular rolling stock. Today there are only three blue trains are in service.

Service

*Blue Train (1979–2000) – Haydarpaşa (Istanbul)-

İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...

-Sakarya( Arifiye)-Bilecik-

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 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

*İzmir Blue Train (1984–) – Ankara-Eskişehir-

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

-Manisa- Basmane (İzmir) *Çukurova Blue Train (1986–2016) – Ankara-Kırıkkale-Kayseri (Boğazköprü)- Niğde-

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

*Central Anatolia Blue Train (1989–2012) – Haydarpaşa (Istanbul)-İzmit-Sakarya(Arifiye)-Bilecik- Enveriye (Eskişehir)-Kütahya-

Afyonkarahisar Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

-Konya-

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

Malatya Malatya (; ; Syriac language, Syriac ܡܠܝܛܝܢܐ Malīṭīná; ; Ancient Greek: Μελιτηνή) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital of Malatya Province. The city has been a human settlement for thousands of y ...

* Konya Blue Train (2012–) –

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. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

-Afyonkarahisar- Uşak- Manisa-Basmane (İzmir)

Regional services

; District 1 * Adapazarı–Gebze * İstanbul–Edirne * İstanbul–Uzunköprü ; District 2 * Ankara–Polatlı * Zonguldak–Karabük * Zonguldak–Gökçebey ; District 3 * Basmane–Denizli * Basmane–Ödemiş - 2nd busiest Regional line * Basmane–Tire * Basmane–Uşak * Basmane–Alaşehir * Basmane–Nazilli * Manisa–Alaşehir * Söke–Denizli * Söke–Nazilli ; District 4 * Sivas–Divriği * Erzincan–Divriği * Kars–Akyaka * Samsun–Amasya * Sivas–Malatya * Samsun–Sivas ; District 5 * Diyarbakır–Batman * Elazığ–Tatvan ; District 6 * Mersin–Adana - Busiest regional line * Mersin–İskenderun * Konya–Karaman * Gaziantep–Nizip ; District 7 * Kütahya–Balıkesir * Eskişehir–Afyonkarahisar * Eskişehir–Kütahya * Eskişehir–Tavşanlı

Former services

* 9th of September Express * Anatolian Express * Balkan Espress * Boğaziçi Express * Buca suburban * Seydiköy suburban * Central Anatolia Express * Cumaovasi suburban * Çukurova Blue Train * Bornova suburban * Succession Express * Black Diamond Express * Capital Express * Dostluk/Filia Express * Dumlupınar Blue Train * Erzurum Express * Eskişehir Express * Fatih Express * Friendship Express * Friendship Train * Gaziantep Blue Train * Gaziantep-Nusaybin Regional * Gülistan Express * Haydarpaşa-Adapazarı Regional * Haydarpaşa-Kurtalan Postal Train * Haydarpaşa suburban * Istanbul suburban * İzmir-Diyarbakır Postal Train * Karesi Express * Kocatepe Express * Marmara Express * Meram Express * Orient Express * Republic Express * Sakarya Express * Soma Express

High-speed rail

High-speed rail service is TCDD Taşımacılık's premier trains service, currently operating eight routes between

Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...

Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District.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. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

along the Ankara-Istanbul, Ankara–Sivas, Konya-Karaman and Polatlı-Konya high-speed railways. High-speed trains are branded as ''Yüksek Hızlı Tren'' or ''YHT'' and operates at speeds of up to . YHT train service is expected to expand further to

and

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

in 2027. YHT trains use Ankara station as their main hub, with an exclusive concourse and lounges within the Ankara Tren Garı building, built over the southern platforms at Ankara station. High-speed train service began on 13 March 2009, between Ankara and Eskişehir and in its final year before TCDD Taşımacılık took over, YHT trains carried over 5.89 million passengers.

Intercity rail

Intercity rail in Turkey is known as ''Mainline'' () service. Mainline trains operate between major cities, often as overnight trains, and make limited stops. Mainline trains also operate at greater speeds than regional and commuter trains when the route permits it. Intercity trains were operated the most between Istanbul and Ankara and reached speeds of up to in certain sections. The Capital Express, Anatolian Express and the Republic Express were a few notable mainline trains that ran on the Istanbul to Ankara rail corridor. Once the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway was completed in 2014, all mainline train service between the two cities was replaced with high-speed rail service. Mainline trains are usually equipped with TVS2000 air-conditioned cars, however refurbished Pullman cars are also used on some trains. Overnight mainline trains consist of

sleeping Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...

and dining cars while some trains also have couchette cars in addition to sleepers. During the final year before TCDD Taşımacılık took over operations, mainline trains carried over 1.3 million passengers.

Regional rail

Regional rail () service connects major cities to neighboring towns and villages, as well as other cities. These trains are usually the slowest in the whole TCDD Taşımacılık system, making frequent stops along its route. Some trains, like the Ada Express, however operate at faster speeds similar to mainline trains. All regional rail service operates within their respective districts, using one city as a hub. The most frequent regional rail service in Turkey is between

and

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

with 27 daily trains in each direction. The second most frequent route is between

and Torbalı, with 18 daily trains in each direction. Regional trains can be locomotive-hauled or consist of diesel or electric trainsets (MUs) or even diesel

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s. Locomotive-hauled trains consist of TVS200 or regular Pullman coaches. DM15000 and DM30000 DMUs are standard along many routes, especially south of İzmir. Regional trains lack any on-board services except at-cart catering services on most trains. During the final year before TCDD Taşımacılık took over operations, regional trains carried over 13.5 million passengers.

Commuter rail

Commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service is currently provided in

and

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

; with new networks under planning stage in

and

. The Marmaray network operates between Halkalı in

Istanbul province 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 Gebze in the neighboring Kocaeli Province, Kocaeli province. The tunnel that Marmaray uses to cross Bosporus, Bosphorus is the deepest Immersed tube, immersed tube tunnel in the world, and the tunnel is also used by Rail freight transport, freight trains. There is another commuter rail service between Halkalı-Bahçeşehir Rail System, Halkalı and Bahçeşehir (both in Istanbul province), but due to the lack of a Railway signalling, signalling system and Double-track railway, double tracks, trains only operate once in the morning and once in the evening in each direction. The Başkentray network in Ankara provides commuter rail service along an east-west axis between Sincan railway station, Sincan and Kayaş railway station, Kayaş, with Ankara station as a hub. All commuter rail service operates on its own right-of-way, similar to some S-Bahn systems in Germany, and are fully integrated with their respective cities' transportation network. The only commuter railway in Turkey not operated by TCDD Taşımacılık is İZBAN, which operates commuter rail on two lines in the İzmir Province, İzmir metropolitan area.

International rail

While TCDD used to operate several international trains to Europe and the Middle-East, most of these trains were cancelled due to the outbreak of war in Syria and Iraq, and the economic crisis in Greece. Currently, TCDD Taşımacılık operates two international trains from Istanbul to Sofia and Bucharest in Bulgaria and Romania respectively. These two routes operate out of Halkalı as a single train and later split in Bulgaria. Once the rehabilitation of the railway east of Halkalı is completed in late 2018, international train service will resume from their former terminus, Sirkeci railway station, Sirkeci station. An agreement between Greece and Turkey to revive the Friendship Express, Istanbul to Thessaloniki train, cancelled in 2011, was signed in March 2016, but no progress has been made since and it is still unclear whether or not the train will resume service. A new international passenger service from Kars to Baku, Azerbaijan, was expected to start June 2018 via the recently completed Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway. A train such as this would be the first revenue passenger train service from Turkey to the Caucasus. Due to the volatile situation in Syria and Iraq, all international train service to the middle-east is suspended indefinitely.

International services to Europe

Bahnhofsfront-Istanbul-Sirkeci_retouched

* Istanbul-Sofia Express, to Sofia, Bulgaria via Edirne, Kapıkule railway station, Kapitan Andreevo, Plovdiv, Pazardzhik and Sofia. * Bosphorus Express, to Bucharest, Romania via Edirne, Kapıkule railway station, Kapitan Andreevo, Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria, Dimitrovgrad, Ruse, Bulgaria, Ruse, and Bucharest.

Freight operations

From 1980 onwards, rail freight tonne-kilometers transported by the TCDD rose slightly from ~5000million tonne-km in 1980 to ~7000million tonne-km in 1990 and to ~9000million tonne-km in 2000.Restructuring options for reform of TCDD
World Bank report 2003, ''hwtsk.com'' Approximately 50% of freight moved is minerals or ores, with construction materials increasing to ~10% in 2000 from less than 5% in 1980, food/agricultural products, chemicals/petroleum, and metal sectors each account for between 5 and 10%. International freight accounted for approximately 5% of totals in 2000. In 2012, 25.7 million ton were transported by rail in Turkey. Two steel companies, Erdemir and Kardemir, top 2 customers of TCDD, had transported 4.5 million ton in 2012, mainly iron ore and coal. 2.1 million tons of rail freight belong to international traffic. Most of international traffic between Turkey and Europe are done via Kapikule and mainly using container trains. As of 2016, the number of goods transported by rail is stable (25.8 million ton) with 7.1 million being done with private wagons (domestic only). International transport is also stable since 2013 (1.8 million). Containers are widely used both in international and domestic transportation. 7.6 million tons is carried in containers. TCDD supports transportation by containers. Thus, almost all of the private railway companies invested in container wagons, and carry 20% of all rail freight by their own wagons. TCDD has plans to strengthen its freight traffic with the construction of 4000 km conventional lines until 2023. That includes new international rail connections to Georgia, Iraq and Iran.Uysal, Onur
"2023 Targets in Rail Freight – Network"
''Rail Turkey'', 11 July 2013 This will be complemented with the construction of 18 logistic centers in order to increase the ratio of domestic freight transported by rail.Uysal, Onur
"2023 Targets in Rail Freight – Logistic Centers"
''Rail Turkey'', 5 December 2013 The company is also planning to increase its international transit traffic (as little as 7000 ton in 2016) by constructing an "iron silk road" that will be connecting Europe and Asia and thus taking share from one of the world's highest freight traffic routes. Marmaray and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, YSS bridge are the most important parts of this project which were completed in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Another key project is the Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway which is planned to be completed in 2016 and start functioning in 2017. Also, plans for another supplying project to Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, the Kars-Igdir-Nakhcivan railway has been completed.

Freight rail transport in Turkey

TCDD Transport operate freight trains on all TCDD lines. TCDD Transport has a big fleet of covered goods wagons, Flatcar, flat wagons, Tank car, tank wagons, open wagons and Hopper car, hoppers. TCDD Transport also has a few schnabel cars and Crane (railroad), crane cars. TCDD Transport carries freight such as Bulk cargo, bulk, shipping containers, liquids and good (economics), goods. As of 2012, 25.7 million ton is transported by rail in Turkey. Two steel companies, Erdemir and Kardemir, top 2 customers of TCDD, had transported 4.5 million ton in 2012, mainly iron ore and coal. 2.1 million tons of rail freight belong to international traffic. Most of international traffic is between Turkey and Europe, done via Kapikule. Several container trains are running in this route as well as conventional wagons. Containers are widely used both in international and domestic transportation. 7.6 million ton is carried in containers. TCDD is supporting transportation by containers. Thus almost all of the private railway companies invested in container wagons, and carrying 20% of all rail freight by their own wagons. TCDD has plans to strengthen freight traffic by adding 4000 km conventional lines until 2023. That includes new international rail connections to Georgia, Iraq and Iran. TCDD is also constructing 18 logistic centers to enable transportation of more loads by rail. TCDD is planning to increase its transit traffic (11000 to in 2011) by constructing "iron silk road" to connect Europe to Asia. Marmaray is the most important part of this project which is supposed to complete in 2015. Another project is Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway which will be completed in 2014. TCDD wants to have share from the freight traffic between Europe and China.

Container lines to Europe

As of May 2014, there are 3 companies organizing regular container trains between Turkey and Europe: IFB, Balo and Metrans. The weekly departures by these 3 companies is about 10 in each direction in total. By 16 June 2014 IFB ended direct container service to Turkey and started using vessel connection via Constanta powered by Global Multimodal. There are also other services started in 2014 such as intermodal trailer service by Ulusoy Logistics and swapbody train by Transfesa.

Fleet

TCDD Taşımacılık acquired its entire fleet from the Turkish State Railways on 28 December 2016, when the handover between the two organizations was signed. In total, TCDD Taşımacılık possesses 125 electric locomotives, 543 diesel locomotives, 19 high-speed trainsets, 49 EMUs, 64 DMUs, 872 passenger cars and 19,870 freight cars.

Locomotives

Trainsets

Railcars

Passenger cars

References

{{TCDD Taşımacılık routes TCDD Taşımacılık, Turkish State Railways Rail transport in Turkey Rail freight transport in Turkey Railway companies of Turkey Companies based in Ankara Railway companies established in 2016 Turkish companies established in 2016