Kars station ( tr, Kars garı) is a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
, serving the eastern
Turkish city of
Kars. It is one of the easternmost stations on the Trans-Anatolian railway. The
Eastern Express
The Eastern Express ( tr, Doğu Ekspresi) is an overnight passenger train operated by the Turkish State Railways. The train runs from Ankara Railway Station to Kars Railway Station in Kars. The train was the first overnight service east of Anka ...
services Kars once a day to
İstanbul
)
, 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_in ...
. Between 1993 and 2011, there was no train service east of Kars due to the Turkish-Armenian border closure. But as of February 2011, a
regional train
Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster servi ...
operates twice daily from Kars to
Akyaka, the last Turkish town before the border, stopping at the
Akyaka railway station.
The station was opened in 1899, by the
Transcaucasus Railway
The Transcaucus Railway (russian: Закавка́зская желе́зная доро́га) was the first railway in South Caucasus.Большая Советская Энциклопедия. Гл. ред. Б. А. Введенский, 2-е ...
, when Kars was under the rule of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
in order to have better control over the Ottoman front. The tracks were originally standard
Russian 5-foot gauge. After the
Turkish War of Independence
The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...
, Kars was given back to
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 ...
. 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 ...
took over the station, but Kars remained isolated from the rest of the network until 1939, when a
standard gauge line was built to
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
. Passengers would change to a narrow gauge train from Erzurum to Kars. The Narrow gauge line was replaced with standard gauge in 1957 and the broad gauge line was replaced in 1962.
It is the terminus of the
Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway
The Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway line is a railway line that runs from the city of Kars in Turkey to the Armenian city of Gyumri, and from there on to Tbilisi, Georgia.
Originally completed in 1899, the railway was highly important during the ...
, and the
Baku–Tbilisi–Akhalkalaki–Kars railway.
1899 establishments in the Ottoman Empire
Railway stations in Kars Province
Railway stations opened in 1899
Kars Central District
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