Turkish Republic Railways
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Map of the TCDD railway network
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TCDD's premier high-speed rail service, Yüksek Hızlı Tren, waiting to depart Ankara.
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| Reporting mark | TCDD |
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| Locale | Turkey |
| Dates of operation | 1929–present |
| Predecessor |
Oriental Railway Oriental Railway Company Smyrna Cassaba Railway Anatolian Railway Bursa Mudanya Railway Transcaucasus Railway Cenup Railway |
| Successor | TCDD Taşımacılık (split as part of liberation of rail transport) |
| Track gauge |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge |
| Electrification | Overhead line |
| Length | 12,532 kilometres (7,787 mi) |
| Headquarters | Ankara, Turkey |
| Website | www.tcdd.gov.tr |
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| Government-owned (100%) | |
| Industry | Railway company |
| Founded | Ankara (1927) |
| Headquarters | Ankara, Turkey |
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Key people
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İsa Apaydın |
| Revenue |
 2 billion  (2015)
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1.26 billion (2014)
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−1.5 billion (2015)
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| Owner | Republic of Turkey |
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Number of employees
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 29,829 (2014)
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| Website | TCDD Official Website – Homepage (English/Turkish) |
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
The State Railways of the Turkish Republic (Turkish: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları) or TCDD is the government-owned national railway carrier in the Republic of Turkey, headquartered in Ankara. The TCDD was formed on 1 June 1927 by the Turkish government to take over the administration of the existing rail lines within the borders of the Republic of Turkey after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and to build new ones.
The Turkish State Railways own and operate all public railways in Turkey. In 2011, TCDD controlled 12,532 km (7,787 mi) of railways, making it the 22nd-largest railway system in the world. In 2014, TCDD carried 78 million passengers (ranking as the 24th-largest passenger carrier in the world) and 26 million tons of freight (ranking as the 34th-largest freight carrier in the world). In 2009, the Turkish State Railways employed 25,593 people.
The Turkish State Railways also owns (or holds shares of) a number of other rail transport companies in Turkey, such as Marmaray and İZBAN. TCDD is a member of InterRail since 1994.
After World War I and the Turkish Independence War, the Republic of Turkey was a new-formed country. Even though Turkey had a railway network, most of it was operated by foreign companies. The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (TCDD) was formed on 31 May 1927. TCDD took over the Chemin de fer d'Anatolie-Baghdad, a holding company formed in 1924 by Turkey to take over some rail lines in Turkey, on 1 June 1927 and had control over the tracks of the former Anatolian Railway (CFOA) and the Transcaucasus Railway line in Turkish borders. TCDD now had rail lines to the cities İstanbul, İzmit, Ankara, Afyon, Adapazarı and Konya. On 1 January 1929, TCDD took over the rail line from Mersin to Adana (formerly the Mersin-Tarsus-Adana Railway). Apart from taking over already built lines, TCDD needed to build more line because many important cities were still not serviced by rail. In 1926, TCDD started to build a rail line east to Sivas, reaching Kayseri in 1927 and Sivas in 1930. TCDD continued to acquire from the other rail companies; taking over the Mudanya-Bursa Railway in 1931, the Smyrna Cassaba Railway in 1934, the Ottoman Railway Company in 1935 and the Oriental Railway in 1937. With most of the railways in Turkey under TCDD control, TCDD connected lines such as Kütahya with Balıkesir in 1932 and the former SCP line in Afyon with the former CFOA line. In 1932 TCDD completed the railway to Samsun heading north at Sivas. TCDD continued to build lines, reaching Zonguldak, Erzurum, Erzincan, Diyarbakır and Elazığ in the following years. World War II broke out in 1938, slowing down the building. Between 1938 and 1996 TCDD building decreased. The railway only extended to Gaziantep (1955) and Van (1962).
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Wikipedia