National Railway System: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları. The state railway is normally abbreviated as TCDD, which in translation means State Railways of the Republic of Turkey.
Language: Turkish. Modern Turkish script is based on Latin script, however, some special characters are used for language specific sounds. Turkish is the only official language.
Foreign languages are rarely spoken throughout the country. Occasionally, German might be found, English and French preferrably in the West. Apart from İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, most of the places served by the railway system are far away from the main tourist areas, and only Turkish is spoken.
Currency: Turkish Pound (Türk Lira)
UIC code: TCDD: 75
Timetable:There is no official publication of timetables in Turkey.
Usually, train departures (and sometimes arrivals) are shown on station boards with the terminal station and the train name often being the only reference. Intermediate timings etc. are frequently not given. Timetables change irregularly and without prior notice to the public. The only exception is international traffic between İstanbul and Bulgaria, here timetables appear to change in the regular rhythm of the European system, to which BDŽ adheres.
Many trains run every day of the week. Some Ekspresi (Express) services run only every second day, and suburban services are usually subject to a different weekend schedule. The standard symbols indicating days of operation (such as crossed hammers for Mondays to Saturdays) are not used, days are shown by abbreviations of the (Turkish) terms.
Gauge: Standard. No lines other than Standard gauge are operational.
Electrification: 25kV 50Hz
The following lines are electrified: İstanbul to Kapıkule; İstanbul to Ankara; Ankara suburban lines; İskenderun - Toprakkale - Fevzipaşa - Malatya - Çetinkaya - Divriği.
Rule of the road: Right
Private Railways: None
Tourist Lines: None
Metro: Ankara (2), İstanbul
LRT-systems: İzmir. New systems under construction in Adana and Bursa.
Trolleybuses: None
Special Notes:
Trains can be very crowded. For all main line express trains, especially during weekends and during the school holiday period July - September, reservations are recommended. For express services on the main routes, normally not more tickets are being sold than the local seat contingency of each served station allows. Some İstanbul - Ankara express trains generally require reservation. Reserved seats are not marked as such.
Punctuality of long distance trains is often low, and with the exception of a few dedicated connecting services, trains would usually not wait for possible late running feeder services. The operations philosophy appears to be that a train - once running late - has lower priority in comparison to other trains still on time.
The most reliable up-to-date timetable information for express trains can be obtained at the TCDD Official Webpage. A special regional site provides timetables for express and even for local services in the TCDD İzmir Region and in the TCDD Ankara Region, the latter still being under construction. Other publications are usually not up to the most recent status, but as the timetable structure is only little changing, they might at least give an indication of service frequency.
Recent and future changes:
The main line from İstanbul to Ankara is planned for extensive reconstruction, including doubling, re-alignment and major speed upgrades. Except for a 15km section around İzmit (city centre avoiding line, operational since August 1999) this project is still in a discussion stage. The Bosphorus crossing project connecting the European with the Asian network consists of a double track tunnel from Yenikapı to Haydarpaşa. This project has been recently revived, and finalisation is now envisaged by 2010. A more distant project is the elimination of the Lake Van rail ferry by a new line connecting Tatvan and Van on the lake's south shore.
Traffic in the south-east used to be disrupted for many years, but nowadays reopenings could be observed, as the Elazığ to Tatvan line which is now again being served by a local mixed train three times a week.
Last complete update 01 September 2000.
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