34 cities have passenger train service to city center in Turkey.

Though trains have very little share among transport modals (1%), many city centers have train access.

Here’s the train access map of cities:

Cities with high speed train access

The current HST services in Turkey are Istanbul-Ankara, Istanbul-Konya-Karaman, Ankara-Konya-Karaman and Ankara-Eskisehir.

The cities that HSTs call are: Istanbul (both European and Asian sides), Izmit, Bilecik, Eskisehir, Ankara, Konya, Karaman. HSTs also call at Arifiye, which is very close to Adapazari.

TCDD Tasimacilik organizes HST connected bus services, from Eskisehir to Bursa, from Konya to Antalya.

In 2022, Kirikkale, Yozgat and Sivas are expected to be added to this list as Ankara-Sivas HST service starts.

Routes and timetables of high speed trains

Cities with main line train access

Main line trains are long distance trains generally once a day. Trains are slower, but more comfortable. In overnight trains, sleepers and/or couchettes exist. Main departure stations of mainline trains are Ankara, Izmir, Adana.

Main line trains departing from Ankara call at below cities:

Eskisehir, Bilecik, Izmit, Istanbul, Kutahya, Balikesir, Manisa, İzmir, Afyon, Kirikkale, Kayseri, Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars, Malatya, Elazig, Mus, Diyarbakır, Batman.

Main line trains departing from Izmir call at below cities:

Manisa, Balikesir, Kutahya, Eskisehir, Ankara, Usak, Afyon, Konya, Aydin, Denizli, Isparta.

Main line trains departing from Adana call at below cities:

Osmaniye, Malatya, Elazig, Nigde, Kayseri, Karaman, Konya

Routes and timetables of main line trains

Most beautiful train routes travelling while lying

Cities that you can travel to neighbourhood by regional trains

Regional trains are giving service mostly in short distances (50-300 km) using DMU/EMU sets sometimes with several departures a day. Comfort is not their priority. Some of them are very crowded.

The city centers that regional trains call in Marmara region (Northwest of Turkey): Istanbul-Edirne, Izmit-Adapazari

The city centers that regional trains call in Aegean region (West of Turkey): Izmir-Manisa-Usak, Izmir-Aydin-Denizli

The city centers that regional trains call in Central Anatolia: Ankara, Eskisehir-Kutahya-Afyon, Konya-Karaman

In Blacksea region, trains are running between two cities: Zonguldak and Karabuk. These cities have no other train services to any other cities.

The city centers that regional trains call in Mediterranean region: Mersin-Adana-Osmaniye

The city centers that regional trains call in East Anatolia: Sivas, Erzincan, Kars, Diyarbakir-Batman, Elazig-Mus

Routes and timetables of regional trains

Cities with rail access but no passenger train

In 7 cities, there is rail connection, but there’s no passenger train services. Tekirdag, Samsun, Amasya, Van (due to the fact that international trains are not operating), Kahramanmaras, Gaziantep, Mardin.

Train services from metropols of Turkey

From metropol cities, it’s possible to travel to most of the cities above with max 1 interchange. Note that since several train services are not very frequent, interchange may cause long waiting time at stations. Here are rail coverage city by city:

• Cities you can travel by train from Istanbul
• Cities you can travel by train from Ankara
• Cities you can travel by train from Izmir
• Cities you can travel by train from Adana
• Cities you can travel by train from Konya
• Cities you can travel by train from Kayseri
• Cities you can travel by train from Eskisehir

Cover photo: Onur Uysal ©