Yüksek Hızlı Tren

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Yüksek Hızlı Tren
High Speed Train
YHT at Ankara.JPG
A westbound train waiting to depart Ankara station
Overview
Service type High-speed rail
Status Operating
Locale Northwest, Central Anatolia
First service March 13, 2009
Current operator(s) Turkish State Railways
Ridership 3,375,000 (2012)
Route
Start Central Station, Ankara
End Central Station, Eskişehir
Pendik Station, Istanbul
Central Station, Konya
Distance travelled 245 km (152.2 mi)
Average journey time 1 hour, 50 minutes[1]
Service frequency 4 daily (Ankara-Eskişehir)
5 daily (Ankara-Istanbul)
7 daily (Ankara-Konya)
2 daily (Istanbul-Konya)
On-board services
Class(es) First, business and economy class
Disabled access Fully accessible
Seating arrangements Airline-style coach seating
Catering facilities On-board café, and at-seat meals in first class
Entertainment facilities On-board television with feature films
Baggage facilities Checked baggage available at selected stations
Technical
Rolling stock HT65000 and HT80000
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz AC
Operating speed 250 km/h (155 mph) maximum
Track owner(s) TCDD
Route map
Distance     Station
0 Ankara
25 km (15.5 mi) Sincan
90 km (55.9 mi) Polatlı
99 km (62 mi)
246 km (153 mi) Eskişehir
312 km (194 mi) Konya
296 km (184 mi) Bozüyük
330 km (205 mi) Bilecik
430 km (267 mi) Arifye
470 km (292 mi) İzmit
517 km (321 mi) Gebze
537 km (334 mi) Istanbul

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The Yüksek Hızlı Tren or YHT (English: high-speed train) is the Turkish State Railways high-speed rail service currently operating on two lines: Ankara to Istanbul via Eskişehir and Polatlı to Konya. YHT is the only high-speed service in Turkey operating at speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph).[2]

History

Origins

Istanbul and Ankara are Turkey's largest two cities, having a combined population over 16,500,000. Transportation between the two cities is high. The Otoyol 4 motorway is a major highway between the two cities, and the Ankara–Istanbul route is the busiest route for the Turkish Airlines. The route between Istanbul and Ankara by rail has been a single-track line, and trains usually were delayed 30 minutes to 2 hours plus the average 7 hours, 30 minutes travel time. Rail transport in Turkey was already at its lowest point, so in 2003 the State Railways and the Turkish Ministry of Transport made an agreement to build a 533 km (331 mi) line between the two cities. The line would be an electrified double trackline.[2] Construction began in 2004 from Esenkent to Eskişehir. The line was completed on April 23, 2007.[3]

Testing

On February 28, 2007, TCDD requested bids for high-speed train sets from other networks to be tested on the completed portion of the high-speed line.

An ETR 500 train set was used for testing of the completed high-speed rail lines

On March 30, 2007, TCDD signed an agreement with Trenitalia of Ferrovie dello Stato to rent an ETR 500 train set for 4 months.[3][4]

The first run was from Haydarpaşa Terminal in Istanbul to the Central Station in Ankara, using the completed portion of the high-speed line between Hasanbey and Esenkent.

On September 14, 2007, the ETR 500 Y2 set a speed record in Turkey, reaching 303 km/h (188.3 mph).[5] This test received extensive media coverage in Turkey.

On November 20, 2007, the first TCDD HT65000 high-speed train sets purchased from CAF of Spain entered Turkey from the Kapıkule Border Gate in Edirne,[6] and tests were subsequently made with these train sets prior to the commencement of services on March 13, 2009.

Naming

TCDD requested bids for the name of the high-speed service. Out of over 100 entries, the ones with the highest votes were: Türk Yıldızı (Turkish Star), Turkuaz (Turquoise), Yüksek Hızlı Tren (High Speed Train), Çelik Kanat (Steel Wing) and Yıldırım (Lightning). TCDD chose Yüksek Hızlı Tren to be the name of the service.[7]

In 2010 one of the YHT trains had been converted to a test train in order to test the new opening line, such as Konya, and forthcoming lines. The Transportation Ministry had spent 14 million TL (around 7 mio Euros at that time). It named the train – because it is a tradition for test trains – as "Piri Reis" for the famous Turkish navy man, who drew the most accurate maps of the Mediterranean Sea and America in the 16th century.

Opening

On March 13, 2009, the inaugural ceremony took place in Ankara. The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, along with the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, and the Turkish Minister of Transport, Binali Yıldırım inaugurated the first phase of the project (Ankara-Eskişehir).

Routes in service

Turkish State Railways network: High-speed rail tracks in service, under construction and in plan.

The YHT operates on four routes using two different high-speed railway: Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway and the Polatlı-Konya high-speed railway.

Ankara-Eskişehir

This is the first high-speed route being put into service in Turkey and began on March 13, 2009. The journey time decreased incrementally after the initial journeys as additional sections of the first phase of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway are opened. Even after the completion of the second phase, some journeys ends at Eskişehir to meet the high demand between Ankara and Eskişehir using the limited number of rolling stock.

Ankara-Istanbul

Before the YHT came into operation, average journey time between İstanbul and Ankara was 7 hours and 30 minutes. By transferring from the YHT to intercity trains at Eskişehir, average journey time between İstanbul and Ankara has fallen to 5 hours and 30 minutes.[8] After the completion of the second phase of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway (Eskişehir-Istanbul) in 2013, some journeys between Ankara and Eskişehir were extended to Istanbul and YHT started running on the Ankara-Istanbul(Pendik) route on 26 July 2014. The journey is now reduced to as little as 3 hours 49 minutes.[1]

A TCDD HT65000 on the Polatlı-Konya high-speed railway

Ankara-Konya

The route was put into service on 23 August 2011 on the second high-speed railway line being constructed in Turkey. With its inauguration, the journey time between these two cities hugely decreased (mainly because of the absence of direct railway link between the cities).

İstanbul-Konya

The line was put into service on 17 December 2014. It stops at every stations on its route in which YHT service in present. The average journey time is about 4 hours and 17 minutes.

Service

Speed limitations

The YHT operates at a maximum speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) on high-speed tracks. But the YHT also runs on non-high-speed and renewed tracks like the Köseköy-Gebze section of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway where its top speed is 160 km/h (99 mph). Naturally, some speed restrictions also apply in urban sections while accessing the central station, especially in Ankara and Istanbul thus increasing the journey times. The speed on these sections is expected to increase when renewal projects in urban areas (like Başkentray and second phase of Marmaray) will be completed.

Passenger car specifications

The YHT uses the HT65000 EMUs built by CAF and HT80000 EMUs built by Siemens. Every sets have railroad cars with cabins in the front and rear car, cars for economy class passengers and car(s) for first class passengers. Additionally, some HT80000 sets have business class cabins with 4 seats. The seating arrangements are 3 seats in a row (1 on one side, 2 on the other side) in first class and 4 seats in a row (2 on each side) in economy class. Automatic sliding doors provide passage between cars. Baggage may be stowed in the overhead compartments above the seats, or underneath the seats. Wi-fi service is available with power inputs for laptops in first and business classes and all sets are wheelchair-accessible (with places in economy class only). In economy class, seats are fabric-coated and have audio connectors and foldable tables. In first class, there are leather-coated seats and a visual and audio broadcasting system that can broadcast at least 4 hours on 4 different channels.

A security check point in Ankara Central Station

Staff, operation and security

On YHT service, there is usually 1 train engineer (2 on some trains), a train conductor, a car attendant and a café car attendant. Business-class passengers are served meals at their seats if they applied for while buying their tickets. When accessing the trains, passengers must pass a security check like in airports. Maintenance of the sets is done at the Etimesgut Yard in Ankara.


See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 YHT Tanıtım Kitabi (YHT Reference Book), published by TCDD and Turkish Ministry of Transport.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Turkish State Railways - YHT Project
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Demiryolu" Magazine March–April Issue
  4. ↑ Hürriyet: Hızlı tren artık raylarda
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ TCDD English Site - First High Speed Train set arrived in Turkey
  7. ↑ Vikipedi - YHT Vikipedi Page (in Turkish).
  8. ↑ YHT Timetables TCDD Official Site
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