Istanbul–Pythion railway

The İstanbul–Pythion railway is the main railway line in Eastern Thrace and is the Turkish State Railways trunk line to Europe. It was built in 1873 as part of the Chemins de fer Orientaux main line between İstanbul and Belgrade.[1] It is 281.4 km (174.9 mi) long. The line is an important freight corridor for the country.

Istanbul-Pythion railway
An E68000 electric locomotive pulling a regional express train to Kapıkule.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerTurkish State Railways (Istanbul-Hudut)
Hellenic Railways Organization (Hudut-Pythion)
LocaleEast Thrace
Termini
Service
TypeHeavy rail
SystemTurkish State Railways
History
Opened4 April 1873
Technical
Line length281.4 km (174.9 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track (Sirkeci-Halkalı)
single track (Halkalı-Demirköprü)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV (Istanbul-Pehlivanköy)
Operating speed100 km/h (62 mph)
Route map

Istanbul
0 km
0 mi
Istanbul
Sirkeci Docks
2.1 km
1.3 mi
Cankurtaran
3.8 km
2.4 mi
Kumkapı
Yenikapı Transfer Center
4.8 km
3 mi
Yenikapı
5.8 km
3.6 mi
Cerrahpaşa
6.5 km
4 mi
Kocamustafapaşa
7.4 km
4.6 mi
Yedikule
8.6 km
5.3 mi
Kazlıçeşme
9.7 km
6 mi
Zeytinburnu
11.8 km
7.3 mi
Yeni Mahalle
12.6 km
7.8 mi
Bakırköy
14.7 km
9.1 mi
Atatköy
16.5 km
10.3 mi
Yeşilyurt
17.6 km
10.9 mi
Yeşilköy
21.1 km
13.1 mi
Florya
22.2 km
13.8 mi
Menekşe
23.8 km
14.8 mi
Küçükçekmece
25.2 km
15.7 mi
Mustafa Kemal
26.2 km
16.3 mi
Kanarya
Halkalı
27.6 km
17.1 mi
Halkalı Yard
Halkalı Marmaray Yard
30.8 km
19.1 mi
Yarımburgaz
Sazlıdere
32.2 km
20 mi
Altınşehir
38.1 km
23.7 mi
Ispartakule
44.6 km
27.7 mi
Deliklikaya
46.1 km
28.6 mi
Ömerli
1980 realignment
Hadımköy
49.4 km
30.7 mi
Yeşilbayır
Bahşayiş
66.6 km
41.4 mi
Çatalca
65.2 km
40.5 mi
Gökçeali
71.8 km
44.6 mi
İnceğiz
74.4 km
46.2 mi
Kabakça
86.4 km
53.7 mi
Kurfalı
96.9 km
60.2 mi
Sinekli
104.6 km
65 mi
Çayırdere
Istanbul
Tekirdağ
provincial
border
114.7 km
71.3 mi
Çerkezköy
135.8 km
84.4 mi
Veliköy
141.6 km
88 mi
Velimeşe
147.5 km
91.7 mi
Yulaflı
153.8 km
95.6 mi
Çorlu
164.6 km
102.3 mi
Sarılar
169.5 km
105.3 mi
Balabanlı
179.7 km
111.7 mi
Muratlı
Tekirdağ
Kırklareli
provincial
border
195.1 km
121.2 mi
Seyitler
199.2 km
123.8 mi
Karabeyli
204.3 km
126.9 mi
Ovacık
208.9 km
129.8 mi
Müsellimköy
212.7 km
132.2 mi
Lüleburgaz
218.1 km
135.5 mi
Sarıcaali
Alpullu Sugar Factory
229.3 km
142.5 mi
Alpullu
235 km
146 mi
Müsellimköy
243 km
151 mi
Doğanca
250.7 km
155.8 mi
Pehlivanköy
Kırklareli
Edirne
provincial
border
260.1 km
161.6 mi
Bayramlı
271.3 km
168.6 mi
Uzunköprü
279.3 km
173.5 mi
Demirköprü
280.9 km
174.5 mi
Maritsa
Turkey
Greece
border
282.2 km
175.4 mi
Pythion

Route

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The western end of the railway; Pythion, Greece.

The line starts in Istanbul Sirkeci station, almost next to the Golden Horn mouth. It then follows the Marmara seashore to exit the city, passing the Istanbul walls at Yedikule. It then goes through the suburb to Halkalı, the current endpoint of the double track. From there, the line goes North for a few kilometres to go around a lake before resuming its course westward.

At Çatalca, the line will start climbing at an average rate of 6‰ to a 200m high point near the Kurfallı station. It will then descend back to Çerkezköy station. From there, the line will follow the Ergene River all the way until Uzunköprü station, at an average altitude of 50m.

From Uzunköprü station, the line will turn North West to reach the Meriç River where it will cross the current border to Greece to reach the Pythion station. The river crossing is done over a metallic bridge.

History

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When the line opened, it fell entirely within the Ottoman Empire. However, after World War I, a new border was established between Greece and Turkey. The line from Pythion to Edirne fell within Greek territory, and only the İstanbul-Demirköprü section still remained in Turkish territory. In 1971, the State railways built a new line from Pehlivanköy to the Bulgarian border at Kapıkule, bypassing Greek territory. The original line to Pythion is still used for connections to Greece. Due to construction of the Marmaray commuter rail system in Istanbul as well as the rehabilitation of the eastern part of the railway, service between Çerkezköy and Istanbul is temporarily suspended.

See also

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  • Istanbul suburban for details between Sirkeci and Halkalı
  • Çorlu train derailment occurred on 8 July 2018, caused by a damaged track structure following heavy rainfall. The accident resulted in derailed five of six cars, 24 dead and 318 injured passengers, including 42 severely.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "CO History". Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Tekirdağ'da tren kazasında hayatını kaybedenler toprağa veriliyor". TRT Haber (in Turkish). 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.