Turkey has a state-owned railway system built to standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) which falls under the remit of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The primary rail carrier is the Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları (TCDD) (Turkish State Railways) which is responsible for all long-distance and cross-border freight and passenger trains. A number of other companies operate suburban passenger trains in urban conurbations.

Native railway industry extends to the production of locomotives, passenger vehicles and freight wagons; some vehicles are also produced through licensing agreements and cooperation with foreign countries.

In the early 21st century, major infrastructural projects were realized; such as the construction of a high-speed railway network as well as a tunnel under the Bosphorus strait which connects Europe and Anatolia by rail for the first time.

Turkey is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Turkey is 75.

Construction of the first railway line in Turkey began in 1856, being constructed by a British company that had gained permission from the Ottoman Empire. Later, French and German companies also constructed lines – the motivation was not only economic, the region had a strategically important position as a trade route between Europe and Asia.^[4]

As with other countries, rapid expansion followed; by 1922 over 8,000 km (4,971 mi) of lines had been constructed in the Ottoman Empire.^{[note 1]} At the birth of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, there were 3,660 km (2,274 mi) of standard gauge lines, of which 1,378 km (856 mi) were state-owned; while the lines owned by foreign investors were eventually nationalized starting from 1927. The railways were considered an essential part of the state by the government of the Republic, and continued to expand with new railway projects – over 3,000 km (1,864 mi) of new tracks were built in Turkey between 1923 and 1940. Railways were constructed serving mines, agriculture, people and ports; at the same time more lines serving eastern Anatolia were built, in their part helping to tie Turkey together as a functioning state.^[4]

In the years following World War II, the emphasis in transportation shifted to asphalt road and highway construction;^[4] it was not until the end of the 20th century that railways returned to favour with major passenger infrastructure projects being initiated,^[5][6] and five thousand kilometres of new lines planned for construction.^[7]

The Central Treaty Organisation, dissolved after the Iranian Revolution, sponsored some railway building with British money. A railway line, some of which was completed, was built to enable a rail connexion between London and Tehran via Van. A section from Lake Van in Turkey to Sharafkhaneh in Iran was completed and funded in large part by CENTO (mainly the UK). The civil engineering was especially challenging because of the difficult terrain. Part of the route included a rail ferry across Lake Van with a terminal at Tatvan on the Western side of the lake. Notable features of the railway on the Iranian side included 125 bridges, among them the Towering Quotor span, measuring 1,485 ft (453 m) in length, spanning a gorge 396 ft (121 m) deep.^[8][9]

In 2022, Turkey had 12,532 km (7,787 mi)^[3] of railway lines, of which 95% were single-tracked,^{[note 2]} 21% of the network was electrified and 28% signalled. Due to the mountainous geography of the country, the network has many steep gradients and sharp curves.^[15] The Turkish rail network does not cover all major cities; its fourth and fifth largest metropolitan areas of Bursa and Antalya respectively remain unconnected to the network, although plans exist for high-speed rail lines to reach them.

As of June 2016, there is 8,334 km (5,179 mi) of conventional railway line and 593 km (368 mi) of high-speed railway line. 2,288 km (1,422 mi) of the network is electrified (31%), and 3,036 km (1,886 mi) of it is signaled (37%).^[16] Turkish Ministry of Transportation has a plan of constructing 2,000 km (1,243 mi) conventional and 5,000 km (3,107 mi) high speed lines until 2023.^[14]

Electrified lines run from Kapıkule on the Bulgarian border via Istanbul to Ankara, and from Divriği via Malatya to İskenderun on the Mediterranean coast.^[15] Additionally, Sivas and İzmir have electrified networks. Here are some technical informations (standards) about the Turkish railway system:

• Rail Gauge – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
• Electrification – 25 kV, 50 Hz AC Overhead lines
• Loading gauge – UIC GC
• Traffic – Right-Hand traffic
• Pantograph – 195 cm (77 in) (Old) and 160 cm (63 in) (New, Rebuilt and High-speed lines)
• Rail – S49 (Old) and UIC 60 (New, Rebuilt and High-speed lines)
• Sleepers – Wooden & Steel (Old) and Concrete (New, Rebuilt and High-speed lines)
• Fastening – Baseplate based with Screw spikes (Old) and Tension Clamp (New, Rebuilt and High-speed lines)
• Platform height – 38 cm (15 in) (Low platforms), 55 cm (21+5⁄8 in) (High-speed trains' platforms) and 105 cm (41+3⁄8 in) (Commuter rail platforms)
• Coupling – Buffers and Chains (Locomotives and Passenger cars) and Scharfenberg (MUs)
• Brake – Air
• Curve minimum – 200 m (656 ft) and 3,500 m (11,483 ft) (High-speed lines)

Railway links with adjacent countries

Main article: Railway border crossings of Turkey

West neighboring countries

• Bulgaria – open – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) – 25 kV, 50 Hz AC
• Greece – open – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) – 25 kV, 50 Hz AC (but no trains running since February 2011 due to economic crisis in Greece)

East neighboring countries

• Georgia – open – break-of-gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)/1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) at Akhalkalaki (Georgia)
• Armenia – closed – break-of-gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)/1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) (see the Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway line)^[21]
• Azerbaijan – no direct link – break-of-gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)/1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) via Georgia (see the Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway line), via Iran (toward Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic).
• Iran – via Lake Van train ferry – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

South neighboring countries

• Iraq – no direct link, traffic routed via Syria – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
• Syria – closed because of the Syrian civil war – 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Trains to Iraq must be routed via Syria; the section of the tracks within Syria, between the Turkish and Iraqi borders is 81 km long. From 5 March 2012 due to the civil war in Syria, all rail services from Turkey to Syria were stopped; as a consequence freight going from Turkey to Iraq was routed to Nusaybin in southeast Turkey, from where it was transported to Iraq by truck.^[22]

The Iranian rail network is connected to the Turkish rail network via the Lake Van train ferry close to the border – which creates a serious bottleneck.^{[23][note 3][22]} In 2007 an agreement was made to create a rail link between the two countries.^[24]

This article needs to be updated. (December 2018)

A new connection to the Caucasus region and Central Asia via Georgia and Azerbaijan is planned (see the Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway); the line will involve a break of gauge from 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in). The construction of the line is planned to be completed by 2014 and has a target of transporting 17 million tons of cargo per year.^[25] This railway by-passes the Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway line that connected Turkey to Armenia which was closed in 1993^[26] during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War; in 2009 the possibility of re-opening the line was stated by the Armenian transport minister.^[27]

As of 2021, there were 10,546 km (6,553 mi) of main railway lines in Turkey, of which 14% are double-track and 51% are electrified.^[36]

In 2008, the most common rail weight is ~49 kg/m with 69% of track, the remainder being of lighter weight rail, except for 150 km of 60 kg/m rail. Similarly, 69% of sleepers are of the concrete type, with the remainder being wood (~19%) and steel (~12%). Over 700 tunnels exist, with a total length of 181 km; the majority (~76%) are under 1 km long and only one of them has a length of over 4 km. 1,316 steel bridges (average length 22 m) and over 10,000 concrete bridges (average length 2.9 m) exist, the majority (99%) are suitable for axle loads over 20 t, with 40% allowing axle loads of 22.5 tonnes.^[37]

Also in 2008, there were 64 electric locomotives and 549 diesel locomotives in Turkey, with availabilities of 81 and 84 percent, respectively. Additionally, 50 steam locomotives exist, of which 2 are kept in active order. In addition to the 83 EMUs and 44 DMUs for passenger transport, there were 995 coaches in Turkey (830 of which were in working order.) Over 17,000 wagons of various types make up the rest of the fleet.^[37]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Turkey.

• Çamlık Railway Museum
• TCDD Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum
• Istanbul Railway Museum
• Rahmi M. Koç Museum