Railways
The TCDD - Türkiye Devlet Demir Yolları (Turkish State Railways) possess 10,984 km of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge, of which 2,336 km are electrified (2005). (Map)
In 2004, Marmaray project started on a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus straits.
Between Istanbul and Ankara, a high speed railroad line is being constructed now next to the normal speed railroad which is being renovated. When finished, travel time between the two major cities will reduce from 6,5 hours to 3 hours and 10 minutes, using trains ordered from Spain that can reach up to 250 km/h. Construction of a high speed railroad line between Ankara and Konya was begun in order to connect the two cities with a direct line and reduced travel time from several hours to approximately one hour. The high speed railroad line between Ankara and Konya was finished in 3 June 2011 and was put into service in 23 August 2011. Several other high speed and normal railroad projects are currently in the planning stage.
Because of works connected with the Marmaray and Istanbul-Ankara high speed line there are currently no rail services linking Istanbul with the rest of Anatolia. The suburban services from Haydarpaşa terminate at Pendik where the train tracks end.
Cities with underground railway systems are Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Bursa, and Adana.
Read more about this topic: Transport In Turkey
Famous quotes containing the word railways:
“There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly. Ugliness is the measure of imperfection.”
—H.G. (Herbert George)