The Adana-Aleppo railway () is a long electrified railway mostly in southern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The railway begins in

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 ...

and heads east through

Osmaniye Osmaniye () is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey. It is the seat of Osmaniye Province and Osmaniye District.Nur Mountains The Nur Mountains (, "Mountains of Holy Light"), formerly known as Alma-Dağ, the ancient Mount Amanus (), medieval Black Mountain, or Jabal al-Lukkam in Arabic, is a mountain range in the Hatay Province of south-central Turkey. It begins sou ...

and runs into

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the portion of the route within Syria is mostly abandoned and in disrepair. On the Turkish side, trains run as far south to

İslahiye İslahiye is a municipality and district of Gaziantep Province, Turkey. Its area is 865 km2, and its population is 67,650 (2022). It is a railway border crossing into Syria. Near İslahiye is the site of ancient Nicopolis. The railway stat ...

, about north of the Syrian border. While the tracks south of İslahiye to the border are maintained, no scheduled trains currently run on them. The Adana-Aleppo railway was built by the

Baghdad Railway Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

and mostly constructed between 1908 and 1912, with the long Ayran Tunnel completed in 1917. Together with the Konya-Yenice railway the route played a crucial role during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, transporting men and materiel to the fronts in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. After the war and subsequent peace treaties, the railway was split between Turkey and Syria. As part of the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep high-speed railway corridor, the Adana-Aleppo railway is being expanded to two-tracks and upgraded to accommodate speeds of to .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adana-Aleppo railway International railway lines Cross-border railway lines in Turkey Cross-border railway lines in Syria Standard-gauge railways in Turkey Standard-gauge railways in Syria Railway lines in Turkey Railway lines in Syria Ottoman railways Baghdad railway Railway lines opened in 1912 Railway lines opened in 1918 1912 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1918 establishments in the Ottoman Empire