High-speed services
High-speed rail in Turkey began service in 2009. TCDD has branded its high-speed service as Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT, directly translating to High-Speed Train, dubbed after the trains' capacity to reach 250 km/h (and in some advanced sections of the Ankara-Konya railroad up to 300 km/h). There had been previously tried but failed accelerated train projects, i.e. higher speed rail without the necessary upgrades on the railroad tracks, causing a number of accidents and ending up with losses incurred by TCDD in the early 2000s. YHT, in stark contrast, became a commercially successful, safe and cheap alternative to Flights and Roads, cutting the travel time between the city centers of two largest cities of the country up to 4 hours. Currently, YHT trains operate 22 daily trips based from its central hub in Ankara, in addition to more trips on the Istanbul–Konya high-speed railway that bypass Ankara.
YHT currently operates on two main lines: the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway, and Ankara–Konya high-speed railway. In total, these lines connect 8 provincial capitals out of 81 Provinces in Turkey, namely Adapazarı (via Arifli), Ankara, Bilecik, Eskişehir, Istanbul, İzmit, Karaman and Konya. There are currently ongoing construction projects aiming to link up at least 6 more provincial capitals, including third and fourth largest cities of the country İzmir and Bursa, besides Afyonkarahisar, Edirne, Kayseri, Sivas and other potential cities. Further ambitions at the planning stage eventually aim to link up East and West points of the country through high-speed railways and act as an international High-speed railway bridge across Europe and Asia
On 13 March 2009, the first phase of the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway entered service between Ankara and Eskişehir. On 25 July 2014, the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed line services began to reach the Pendik railway station on the Asian side of Istanbul, Uysa[7]
On 23 August 2011, the YHT service on the Ankara–Konya high-speed railway was inaugurated. The Konya-Ankara line was later connected with the Istanbul–Ankara line at the Polatlı district of Ankara Province on 23 March 2013, essentially bypassing the city of Ankara and shortening the distance from Istanbul to Konya to 5 hours. Most recently on 8 January 2022, the Konya line was extended into another provincial capital, Karaman.
High-speed rail in Turkey is still developing, with new lines currently under construction or in the planning phase. By 2023, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure expects Turkey's high-speed rail system to increase to 10,000 kilometers. [htt[8] Mainline service includes 2 types of trains: Express and Blue Train.
Express service is between major cities and are fast, comfortable and equipped with modern air-conditioned TVS2000 railcars and only stop at important stations. Express trains have an average operating speed of 100 km/h to 120 km/h. Express service has both day (e.g. İzmir-Bandırma) and overnight trains between major cities far apart (e.g. Ankara-Kars). These trains have coaches, a dining car and a sleeping car or a couchette car, or sometimes both.
The TVS2000 railcars used on mainline service are the most comfortable cars in TCDD's entire fleet. TVS2000 railcars may also be used on international services because international services are considered mainline services within Turkey.
