Annual ridership in suburban trains in Turkey reached to 160 mn in 2015.
Suburban trains are giving service in 3 metropols, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Total ridership reached to 159.5 mn in 2015. That is 20% over the ridership in 2014, which was 130 mn.
Izban, the joint venture company of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, operating the suburban trains was #1 in ridership. 55% of all suburban train passengers were carried by Izban trains in 2015.
Giving service on 111-km-long network between 38 stations, Izban suburban trains carried 87.4 mn passengers in 2015. Increase compared to previous year is 16%. This increase came from reorganization of urban transport in Izmir based on suburban trains and metro.
By opening of 30-km-long Cumaovasi-Tepekoy extension at the beginning of 2016, ridership of Izban is expected to increase in 2016 too.
Giving service on 13-km-long network between 5 stations and connecting European and Asian sides of Istanbul, Marmaray had a very fast increase in ridership in 2015. Annual ridership had increased by 40% and reached to 61 mn. Two big metro lines (M1 and M2) were connected to Marmaray at Yenikapi which had helped this increase.
The suburban services were started to be suspended section by section in 2012/2013 which ended up with decrease in ridership. At the last quarter of 2013, first phase of Marmaray opened (the Bosphorus tunnel pass) and ridership started to increase.
Ankara suburban trains were far behind these two metropols. The ridership was about 11 mn/year in last two years, but will drop sharply this year due to engineering works on suburban lines in Ankara which started in July 2016. After the commission of this project, the suburban trains are expected to get an important share in urban traffic.
After the commission Baskentray project, the suburban trains are expected to carry 70 mn passengers every year.
Cover Photo: Steve Hobson ©
Categories: Urban Transport
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