Country info: Turkey (Türkiye)

Rail companies: TCDD (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları)

Turkish Rail Network Map 

Currency: 1 euro= app. 2.45 Turkish Lira (TRY) 

Train travel in Turkey: train types, tickets, fares, discounts & other useful info

National Train Service:

Train types in Turkey: Suburban (Banliyö trenler), Regional (Bölgesel trenler), Express (Ekspresler), 'Blue' Trains (Mavi trenler), High-Speed (Yüksek Hizli Trenler) & International trains (Uluslararasi trenler)

• Suburban (Banliyö) – commuter service in the areas of Istanbul, Ankara & Izmir, no seat reservation required
  
• Regional (Bölgesel) – regional service all over the country, no seat reservation required
• Express (Ekspress) – long-distance daytime & sleeper trains connecting major Turkish destinations, seat/bed reservation required
• Blue (Mavi) – long-distance sleeper premium trains, seat/bed reservation required (currently service Ankara to Izmir, Ankara to Malatya & Ankara to Adana routes)
• High-Speed  (Yüksek Hizli) – high-speed trains connecting Ankara with Eskisehir (projected Ankara to Istanbul high-speed line) & Ankara with Konya, seat reservation required + special tariff  supplement applies
• International (Uluslararasi) – international trains connecting Turkey with Bulgaria, Romania & Iran (Istanbul-Ankara-Tehran & Van-Tabriz)   

Ticket Sales (domestic journeys on long-distance trains): Turkish Railways (TCDD) starts ticket sale for one group of trains 30 days in advance (6 Eylül Ekspresi, 17 Eylül Ekspresi, Fırat Ekspresi, Erciyes Ekspresi, Çukurova Mavi, Konya Mavi, Toros Ekspresi), for other group 15 days in advance (İç Anadolu Mavi, İzmir Mavi, Karesi Ekspresi, Doğu Ekspresi, Güney/Kurtalan Ekspresi, Vangölü Ekspresi, 4 Eylül Mavi), while tickets for all high-speed trains go on sale 7 days before departure

Discounts, special offers & ways to save money for passengers traveling in Turkey (TCDD):

• Passengers purchasing return ticket (Gidiş-Dönüş) receive  20% discount from the regular fare  
• Youth (<26) passengers as well receive 20% discount for train tickets in Turkey (although information whether discount is given only to Turkish citizen or everybody needs to be rechecked)
• Passengers planning to travel extensively in Turkey might want consider TCDD Train Tour Cards (Tren Tur Kartlari):

1. Express Train Tour Card (Ekspres Tren Tur Karti) allows holder to travel free on the entire Turkish rail network for 30 days (except high-speed trains), additionally passenger needs to pay only sleeping car reservation, while seat reservation (Pullman) can be reserved in advance free of charge. Ekspres Tren Tur Karti cost 190 TRY
2. Sleeping Car Train Tour Card (Yatakli Tren Tur Karti) allows holder to travel free on the entire Turkish rail network for 30 days (except high-speed trains), passenger doesn't pay any additional supplements or sleeper reservation fares (seat, couchette or sleeping car reservation are free of charged). Yatakli Tren Tur Karti cost 500 Turkish Liras
3. High-Speed Train Card (Tam YHT Karti) allows holder to travel free on high-speed trains (from Ankara to Eskişehir and from Ankara to Konya) during 30 days, Tam YHT Karti cost 385 Turkish Liras for adults or 275 TRY for youth (<26 years old)

•  Passengers planning multiple trips in Turkey and/or to neighboring European countries might consider purchase of Balkan Flexi pass (special pass offer for journeys in the area of south-east Europe). Balkan Flexi Pass (validity period of one month) allows unlimited number of rail journeys during of 5, 7, 10 or 15 days on rail networks of Bulgaria, FYR of Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Serbia & Montenegro

Balkan Flexi Pass prices (2^nd class):

International Train Service:

*Due to major reconstruction works done by Turkish Railways, currently there is no rail service on leg from Istanbul to Kapikule, instead TCDD offers replacement bus service (rail tickets are valid) for passengers traveling from Istanbul to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia (previously direct trains). Change from bus to train occurs at Kapilule station on Turkish-Bulgaria border

Tariffs for international tickets used by Turkish railways:

• for connections to Europe SCIC-NRT/TCV tariff (however to be precise it's SET tariff, since all the trains that originating from Turkey have final station in SERG countries), tariff currency - Euro
• for connections to Iran and Syria CMO tariff, tariff currency – Swiss Francs

a) Regular discounts

b) Special offers (SparSchiene)

Not available

c) CityStars

Not available

How to Buy Train Tickets in Turkey:

National (domestic) tickets for long-distance (Express & Mavi trains) & high-speed trains can be purchased via TCDD website - www.etcdd.tcdd.gov.tr (only in Turkish)

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