History of rail transport in Turkey



The history of rail transport in Turkey began with the start of the placement in 1856 of a 130 km railway line between İzmir and Aydın. The first finished Ottoman railway line was a 66 km line between Köstence (today Constanţa, Romania) and Boğazköy (today Cernavodă, Romania) built in 1859–1860.

The state corporation that manages the Turkish railway system, Turkish State Railways, subdivides the history into the Pre-Republic period (Ottoman period), the Republic period (which extends from 1923 to 1950) and the period after 1950. During the first period, railways were built and operated by foreign concerns with permission from the state. In the second, the state took over its own railways and expanded them in support of Turkish financial interests. In the third period, attention turned from rail travel to highways, and the expansion of railways dramatically slowed.

Summary
During the period of the Ottoman Empire, the British, French and German entities funded and ran private railways in Turkey having gotten permits to do so from the state. European powers used their technological know how in different zones of influence, which they divided amongst themselves. The Ottomans were interested in the economic, social and military advantages of the railways. The first railways were built by the Brits during the mid 19th century. This was done in order to transport the fig harvest to Izmir. Companies from Germany built the well known Orient Express, which ran from Turkey to Europe. The Germans also built the Turkish part of the line Berlin–Baghdad railway.

European and Ottoman interests
By the end of 1913, 42% of the 3700 million pounds of British investment in the Ottoman empire was in the railways. 15% of the 1800 million pounds invested by the French was put into railways. The Germans invested 750 million pounds, 25% of which funded railways. Ottoman interests were oriented around modernizing the empire. Ottoman transportation until then relied on transportation through animals such as mules and camels, rivers were short and often were not suitable for inland travel therefore railways provided a solution to improve the Ottoman transport system. Railways significantly increased trade in the regions where they were established, in the İzmir–Aydın, trade increased 13 fold from 1856 to 1909.

Germans
The Germans were notably involved in the railways connecting Instanbul and Baghdad, the Anatolian railway as well as a private German initatives in the Balkan holdings of the empire.

British
The Brits wanted to shorten journeys to British held India, rail transport through the Ottoman Empire which sits between Europe and Iran. The Isknenderiye-Kahire was built for this purpose.

İzmir–Aydın railway (1860–)
The first railway to be constructed in Turkey was the İzmir (the Turkish name of Smyrne)–Aydın line, the first part of which was opened in 1860. Further construction and extension of the line continued up to 1912, by which time the total length was in excess of 700 km.

İzmir–Turgutlu railway (1865–)
The second railway to be opened was the İzmir–Turgutlu railway. As with the İzmir–Aydın line expansion continued for several decades, and by 1912 the total length was well in excess of 500 km.

European (Şark) railway (1871–)
In 1871 the Yenikapı to Florya section of the Sark railway opened, further lines were added in the years 1872 and 1873 to create 288 km of lines. A further extension was added in 1912 of 46 km.

Anatolian railway (1872–)
The first section of the Anatolian railway (Anadolu demiryollari) opened in 1872, and the line saw constant growth through the next three decades.

Mersin Tarsus Adana railway (1882–)
The Mersin to Adana opened the section to Yenice in 1882, and was completed, having reached Adana by 1886.

Baghdad railway (1904–)
The Baghdad (modern day Iraq) railway extended into Turkey, with lines reaching Konya and other parts of western Turkey.

Cenup railway (1912–)
First opened in 1912.

Republican Period (1920–1950)
During the Turkish War of Independence, the new breakaway government in Ankara held control over sections of railways located in central and southern Anatolia. In 1920, these were brought under the roof of Chemin de Fer d'Anatolie ("Anadolu Şimendiferleri" - distinct from "Ottoman Anatolian Railways") with its center in Ankara and administered by Behiç Erkin, the founding figure of modern Turkey's railway network and a colonel at the time. Erkin pursued his office as director general beyond the war during a crucial period that lasted until 1926, after which he was Turkey's minister for transports for two years.

In 1923, Turkish railways entered into what the Turkish State Railways term the "Republic Period", a "golden age" that lasted until 1950. During this time, the railways that had already been created were repurposed to serve Turkish financial interests, prioritizing industrial growth in such industries as iron, steel and coal. In addition to claiming existing lines, the Turkish government extended lines into the previously underrepresented Central and Eastern areas of Turkey to achieve near balance. Between 1935 and 1945, emphasis was placed on construction of junction lines, to improve industrial connectivity and also strengthen national defense. As a result, distance of travel between various points was significantly shortened.

During this period, the following main routes were constructed:
 * Ankara-Kayseri-Sivas
 * Sivas-Erzurum (Caucasus line)
 * Samsun-Kalin (near Sivas)
 * Irmak-Filyos (Zonguldak (coal line)
 * Adana-Fevzipaşa-Diyarbakır (Copper line)
 * Sivas-Çetinkaya (Iron line)

1950s forward
According to the Turkish State Railways, beginning in 1950 the railways of Turkey were ignored and neglected as focus turned to highways. An article in Euroasia rail said that there was no full signaling in Turkey until 1950. In the early part of the period, the improvement of the roadway system was conceived to support the rail system, but instead of the coordinated building of both road and rail structures intended, railroad constructed slowed dramatically. In the 1980s, the national transportation plan "1983–1993 Transportation Interim Planning" was adopted with a goal in part of decreasing highway transportation share from 72% to 36%, but the plan was abolished in 1986 without implementation. In 2002, only 4% of freight transported in Turkey traveled by rail, and only 2% of passenger travel was conducted by rail. Turkey is building with British loans a high speed railway.

Proposed lines

 * Kars to Nakhchivan in Azerbaijan

Museums

 * TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum in Ankara
 * Istanbul Railway Museum
 * Çamlık Railway Museum
 * Rahmi M. Koç Museum

Timeline of railway investment and construction under the Ottoman Empire
(Notes on investors: O: Ottoman Empire, A: Austria, B: Belgium, F: France, G: Germany, S: Switzerland, UK: United Kingdom, Int'l: International investors; Source: Roth - Dinhobl, p. 188)