User:Central Data Bank/Turkish State Railways

The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible with the ownership and maintenance of railway infrastructure in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD was formed on 4 June 1929 as part of the nationalization of railways in Turkey.

The Turkish State Railways own and maintain all public railways in Turkey. This includes railway stations, ports, bridges and tunnels, yards and maintenance facilities. In 2016, TCDD controlled an active network of 12608 km of railways, making it the 22nd-largest railway system in the world. Apart from railway infrastructure, TCDD also owns several rail transport companies within Turkey as well as a 50% share of the İzmir-area commuter rail system, İZBAN.

Prior to 2017, TCDD also operated all railways in Turkey. However, with the government taking steps to privatize some of the Turkish railway network, TCDD Taşımacılık was formed on 14 June 2016 to take over all railway operations. Handover of rolling stock was signed on 28 December of the same year and TCDD formally ceased all railway operations on 31 December 2016.

History
Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in World War I and the Turkish nationalist victory in the subsequent post-war conflict in Anatolia led to the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. The new government initiated a nationwide strategy of rebuilding and nationalizing the 4,112 km of railways within its newfound borders, which were privately owned by six railway companies. The first government-owned railway company was the Anatolian Baghdad Railways, originally formed in 1920, to operate strategic railways in Anatolia during the war of independence. In 1924, the railway officially began operations and formally took over the Ottoman Anatolian Railway and the Baghdad Railway within Turkey. In 1925, the Eastern Railway and the Railway Construction and Management Administration was formed; the first one to take over operations of the Transcaucasus Railway within Turkish borders, and the latter to oversee construction of new railways in Turkey.

Formation


On 23 May 1927 the Turkish parliament passed Law No. 1092, consolidating the three national railway companies under one organization: the State Railways and Seaports Administration (Devlet Demiryolları ve Limanları İdare-i Umumiyesi, or DDLY), which was the direct predecessor to the Turkish State Railways. This new organization, headquartered at Haydarpaşa station in Istanbul and directly controlled by the Ministry of Transport, was tasked with the operation, management and construction of railways in Turkey as well as the management of seaports in Istanbul, İzmir, Derince and Mersin. The main focus however, was the further construction of the railway east of Ankara, which had reached Kayseri by 1927. When the DDYL first began operations, it possessed 1,378 km of railway. A year later and with the construction of new railways to Kayseri and Tavşanlı, the system grew to 2,359 km.

Two years later, on 30 May 1929, the Turkish parliament passed Law No. 1483, restructuring the DDYL into a new organization: the State Railways Administration (Devlet Demiryolları İşletme Umum Müdürlüğü, or DDY) and was the first iteration of the Turkish State Railways. This new organization had had a wider set of responsibilities compared to its predecessors but also possessed more autonomy from the Ministry of Transport. Former president of the DDYL, Haşim Sanver became the first President of the State Railways Administration.

According to Law No. 1482, the original responsibilities of the DDY was as follows:


 * Ownership and management of existing railways, complete or under construction, along with the construction and planning of new railways
 * Ownership and management of all railway-related government buildings
 * Ownership and management of four seaports and port facilities

Expansion


When the State Railways Administration first began operations, the railways possessed a network of 2,359 km of completed railway. The completed system spanned from Istanbul to Kayseri, via Ankara; Eskişehir to Fevzipaşa, via Konya and Adana along with a branch to Mersin and Tavşanlı; and an isolated railway from Erzurum to Kars and further to the border with Soviet Armenia. The latter railway was a mixed gauge route, consisting of narrow gauge from Erzurum to Sarıkamış and broad gauge from Sarıkamış to the Soviet border. The railways also took over several more lines that were under construction. These lines were from Kayseri to Sivas, Kayseri to Ulukışla, Irmak to Ereğli, Kütahya to Balıkesir, Fevzipaşa to Diyarbakır and Samsun to Sivas, the latter of which had about 168 km of route between Kavak and Zile completed.

The first railway to be completed by the DDY was between Kayseri and Sivas, which officially opened on 30 August 1930 with great fanfare. This began the largest railway construction spree in Turkish history. In the following decade, the State Railways would construct about 2,606 km of new railways, connecting most major Turkish cities to the national rail network. The main railway building policy was to expand the existing network throughout the country, with priority given to strategic regions and population centers. By 1935, the railways reached Elazığ and Diyarbakır in the east as well as the port city of Samsun and Hisarönü (just east of Zonguldak) on the Black Sea and reached Balıkesir and Ulukışla, connecting to the Smyrna Cassaba Railway, and the former Baghdad Railway respectively.

The DDY was also charged with buying up the remaining private railways in Turkey. The first private railway to be bought by the DDY was the Mudanya Bursa Railway, which it purchased for 50,000 liras (about $337,500 today) on 30 May 1931. This purchase added the 41 km long narrow gauge railway from Bursa to Mudanya, on the southeast coast of the Sea of Marmara, to the DDY network. The first major railway to be acquired by the state railways was the Ottoman Railway Company, which owned and operated the railway from İzmir to Eğirdir, with branches to Ödemiş, Tire, Söke, Denizli and Civril. The DDY bought the ORC for £1.8 million ($135.4 million today) on 30 May 1931. Three years later, the DDY acquired the Smyrna Cassaba Railway (SCP) for Fr162.4 million (about $200.1 million today), which added about 700 km of railway spanning from İzmir to Afyon and to the port town of Bandırma on the Sea of Marmara. The provided a more direct route to İzmir, which was the second largest city at the time. Another strategic railway was added to the DDY system in 1937 when the state railways bought the Oriental Railway (CO). The CO owned the only railway in European Turkey which ran east from Istanbul to the Greek border near Uzunköprü, with a branch line to Kırklareli. The acquisition took place on 31 May 1937 for CHF210.7 million (about $483.4 million today) under law No. 3155. The purchase of the CO marked an end to the former Ottoman railway companies.

Organization
The Turkish State Railways is a state owned enterprise and is wholly owned by the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry of Transport (UDHB) posses legal control of the railways, however since 1953, TCDD has more autonomy to function independently. TCDD is headquartered in Ankara on Hipodrom Avenue just northwest of Ankara station. The building was built between 1939 and 1941 and designed by Turkish architect Bedri Uçar in the Turkish New Regionalism style.

Subdivisions
The state railways has a total of eight subdivisions (bölge) on its network. These subdivisions oversee regional operations and are headquartered at main railway stations within the subdivision. The following eight subdivisions are:


 * Subdivision 1 - Headquartered at Haydarpaşa station in Istanbul, subdivision 1 is responsible for railways in East Thrace and the northeastern Marmara region. Interchanges with subdivision 7 and subdivision 2 is at Eskişehir and Polatlı respectively.


 * Subdivision 2 - Headquartered at Marşandiz Yard in Ankara, subdivision 2 is responsible for the eastern section of the Istanbul-Ankara railway, the middle section of the Trans-Anatolian railway, the Irmak-Zonguldak railway and the Boğazköprü-Ulukışla railway. Interchanges with subdivision 1, subdivision 4 and subdivision 6 are at Polatlı, Kayseri and Ulukışla respectively.


 * Subdivision 3 - Headquartered at Alsancak station in İzmir, subdivision 3 is responsible for railways in the Aegean region and southern Marmara region. Interchanges with subdivision 7 are at Balıkesir, Dumlupınar and Goncalı.


 * Subdivision 4 - Headquartered at Sivas station in Sivas, subdivision 4 is responsible for the eastern section of the Trans-Anatolian railway and the Kalın-Samsun railway. Interchanges with subdivision 2 and subdivision 5 are at Kayseri and Çetinkaya respectively.


 * Subdivision 5 - Headquartered at Malatya station in Malatya, subdivision 5 is responsible for most railways in southeast Turkey, with the exception of the former Baghdad Railway. Interchanges with subdivision 4 and subdivision 6 are at Çetinkaya and Narlı respectively.


 * Subdivision 6 - Headquartered at Adana station in Adana, subdivision 6 is responsible for the former Baghdad Railway routes as well as the Narlı-Karkamış railway. Interchanges with subdivision 2, subdivision 5 and subdivision 7 are at Ulukışla, Narlı and Konya respectively.


 * Subdivision 7 - Headquartered at Ali Çetinkaya station in Afyonkarahisar, subdivision 7 is the newest numbered subdivision and is responsible for railways around western Central Anatolia. Interchanges with subdivision 1 and subdivision 6 at Eskişehir and Konya and with subdivision 3 at Balıkesir, Dumlupınar and Goncalı respectively.


 * YHT Subdivision - Headquartered at Ankara station in Ankara, the YHT subdivision is responsible for all high-speed railways in Turkey. As of 2018, the subdivision overlaps with subdivision 1, subdivision 2 and subdivision 7.

Network
The Turkish State Railways own and maintain an active network spanning 12608 km. Of this network, 1213 km of track is for high-speed rail, 4350 km of track is electrified and 5462 km of track is signalized. TCDD owns the second-largest rail network in the Balkans, after Romania, and the second largest network in the Middle-east, after Iran.

High-speed railway network
Turkey's high-speed rail network was first opened on 13 March 2009, between Esenkent and Eskişehir. This route, part of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway, was gradually extended from Esenkent to Ankara in 2010 and from Eskişehir to Geyve and İzmit to Sapanca in mid-2014. The gap between Geyve and Sapanca is still under construction. A second high-speed railway to Konya was opened in 2011, diverging from the Ankara-Istanbul HSR near Polatlı.

Within large cities, high-speed railways are integrated with the existing railways but are segregated from local commuter rail traffic. Main railway stations serviced by high-speed rail were rebuilt and modernized, notable examples being Eskişehir station, Konya station and Ankara station.

Planned lines
The Turkish State Railways have a number of railways that are planned or under construction. The Ministry of Transport aims to construct an additional 12500 km of railway by 2023 and 18500 km by 2035. This would enlarge the current network to 25000 km in 2023, making it the 14th-largest national network in the world, and 31000 km in 2035, making it the 10th largest in the world.

The following railways are planned to be constructed by 2023.

Links with adjacent countries
Most railway border crossings were built before the modern borders of Turkey were established. This is the reason why, until 1971, Turkey's only railway to Europe crossed into Greece only to cross back into Turkey for a short span at Edirne, then cross back over into Greece and continue on to Bulgaria. Since its foundation, the Turkish State Railways opened three new cross-border railways; with Bulgaria and Iran in 1971 and with Georgia in 2017. In total, TCDD has eight border crossings with six of Turkey's eight neighbors.

Europe

 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria – open – – 25 kV, 50 Hz AC
 * 🇬🇷 Greece – open – – 25 kV, 50 Hz AC

Asia

 * Georgia – open – break-of-gauge / at Akhalkalaki
 * 🇦🇲 Armenia – closed since 1993 – break-of-gauge / (see the Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway line)
 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan – no direct link – break-of-gauge / via Georgia under reconstruction
 * 🇮🇷 Iran – open, via Lake Van train ferry –
 * 🇮🇶 Iraq – no direct link, traffic routed via Syria –
 * Syria – closed due to the Syrian civil war –