The Boğaziçi Express ( tr, Boğaziçi Ekspresi) was a named

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

operated between Istanbul and Ankara until 2012, when it was shortened between

Arifiye Arifiye is a district center of Sakarya Province, Turkey. It is also included in Greater Sakarya Proper. Geography Arifiye is situated at just at the east of Lake Sapanca. It is almost merged to Adapazarı the center of the province and it i ...

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 in Istanbul to

Ankara station Ankara railway station ( tr, Ankara Garı) is the main railway station in Ankara, Turkey, and is a major transportation hub within the city. The station is the eastern terminus of the Istanbul-Ankara railway corridor, as well as the easternmost s ...

in Ankara on 1 June 1968 with brand new railcars from CIWL 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, 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 ( en, CapitalRail), formerly known as the Ankara suburban ( tr, Ankara banliyösü), 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. ...

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