By Mustafa Calkaya
While the Turkish railway network history began in 1856, in the Ottoman Empire era, when a British firm undertaken the establishment of 130-kilometer (86 miles) Izmir-Aydin train route, while the country now has around 14,000-kilometer (8,700 miles) railways.
From 1956 to 1922, a total of 8,619 kilometers (5,355 miles) of railway lines, including the Rumelia and Anatolia-Baghdad lines, were built in Ottoman territory.
In the post-republican period, railway lines were structured in line with national interests, and the governments focused on railway projects till 1950.
In order to ensure the spread of economic development throughout the country, it was aimed to reach underdeveloped regions.
In this framework, Kayseri in 1927, Sivas in 1930, Malatya in 1931, Nigde in 1933, Elazig in 1934, Diyarbakir in 1935 and Erzurum in 1939 were connected to the railway network.
In addition, the governments gave importance to the construction of the extension lines, which connected the main lines to each other and played an important role in the expansion of the railroad throughout the country.
In this context, 3,780 kilometers (2,350 miles) of railway network was added to the 3,714 kilometers (2,300 miles) of railway network inherited from the pre-republican period in the period 1923-1950, and the total line length reached 7,671 kilometers (4,766 miles).
From 1950 to 2002, while priority was given to investments in highways, the railway network, which was 7,671 kilometers (4,766 miles) in 1950, could only be increased to 10,940 kilometers (6,800 miles) until 2002.
- Post-2022 era
The expansion of railway networks gained momentum again after 2002; in 2023, the railway network reached 13,919 kilometers (8,650 miles).
Türkiye is also expanding high-speed railway lines.
In the country, which is a bridge between east and west due to its strategic location, 2,251 kilometers (1,400 miles) of high-speed railway lines have been built since 2002.
Connecting the continents of Asia and Europe with an uninterrupted railway line thanks to the The Bosphorus Rail Tube Crossing.
The modernization of the Gebze-Halkalı Suburban Line enabled uninterrupted urban suburban transportation between Asia and Europe.
High-speed trains operated on the Ankara-Istanbul, Ankara-Konya, Ankara-Eskisehir, Konya-Istanbul, Ankara-Karaman, İstanbul-Karaman, Eskisehir-İstanbul and most recently Ankara-Sivas lines, which became operational in this April, also significantly shorten travel time to many cities with regional trains or combined transportation with buses.
High-speed railways serve for an average of 40,000 people.
Hundreds of important investments were made in the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, renovation and modernization of the existing system of 11,668 kilometers (7,250 miles), liberalization of railway transportation, and development of national and domestic railway industry.
As a result of these investments, high-speed trains directly reached 11 cities with the construction of high-speed railway lines.
- Regional trains
Conventional main line and regional trains, which serve an average of 44,000 passengers each day, provide economical and comfortable travel to the four corners of the country and make significant contributions to domestic tourism.
The interest of travelers and photography enthusiasts in trains operated on different routes.
Main line trains are operated on 16 routes across the country.
- Domestic train studies
Under the roof of Turkish Railway Vehicles Industry (Turasas), efforts to develop the indigenous railway industry have started.
It is planned to supply 95 electric mainline locomotives and 20 diesel electric mainline locomotives from the Turasas.
Two locally and indigenously produced electric passenger train sets have been in service on the Adapazari-Gebze track since May.
*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul