The Adana–Mersin Main Line is a 67 km (41 miles) long double track rail line from the Adana Railway Station 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 ...

to the Mersin Railway Station in

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 ...

. The line passes through the city of Tarsus and has branch lines to the

Port of Mersin The Port of Mersin (), is a major seaport located on the north-eastern coast of Mediterranean Sea in Mersin, southern Turkey. As one of the largest harbors in the country, it is Turkey's main gateway to the Mediterranean Sea. It was constructed d ...

. The line is one of the busiest rail lines in Turkey with 57 passenger trains and about 20 freight trains daily.Adana (Station) to Mersin
/ref> At Yenice, between Tarsus and Adana, the main railroad line north to Ulukışla to the north joins the Adana–Mersin line; at Ulukışla, its two branches continue to

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 ...

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 ( ...

to the northwest and

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 ...

to the northeast.

History

Mersin–Tarsus–Adana Railway

On January 20, 1883, the Ottoman Government gave a concession to develop railways in Cilicia to two Turkish men. They sold a part of their rights to a group of English and French investors, leading to the establishment of the Mersin–Tarsus–Adana Railway (MTA), a French company headquartered in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The line was quickly built and opened on August 2, 1886. In 1896, the Turkish men sold all their rights to the company, making the MTA fully foreign owned. In 1906,

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

bought the line from the French company. After

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 ...

and the Turkish Independence War, the line was still owned by the Deutsche Bank. On January 1, 1929, the line was nationalized, as were the Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie (CFOA). It became part of the Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad Railway, which was a part of the

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). TCDD operates the line to this day. The MTA terminal station in Adana was abandoned by the Baghdad Railway which built its own station further north.

References

External links

Trains of TurkeyAdana Mersin train route map and timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adana-Mersin railway Standard-gauge railways in Turkey Railway lines in Turkey Ottoman railways Baghdad railway Çukurova Railway lines opened in 1886 1886 establishments in the Ottoman Empire