Halkapınar Transfer Center (), commonly referred to as Halkapınar Metro or just Halkapınar, is a multi-modal transportation complex in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Located in northeast Konak, it is the largest transportation complex in

, as well as the

Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...

. The complex offers connections between

İZBAN İZBAN, previously known as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area. Averaging a daily ridership of 185,000 passengers, it is the busiest commuter rail system in Turkey, slightly ahead of the Marmaray commuter ...

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service,

İzmir Metro The İzmir Metro () is a Medium-capacity rail system, light metro system serving the city of İzmir, Turkey. The current system, consisting of M1 (İzmir Metro), one line, starts from Narlıdere Kaymakamlık station in the southwestern portion of ...

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

service,

Tram İzmir Tram İzmir, alternatively known as İzmir Tram (), is a tram network in İzmir, Turkey. Owned by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and operated by İzmir Metro A.Ş., the system consists of three lines: one in Karşıyaka, which opened on 1 ...

tram service and

ESHOT Elektrik Su Havagazı Otobüs Troleybüs () or ESHOT is a bus service operating in the İzmir. ESHOT, along with İZULAŞ are the two main bus transit services in İzmir. Buses serve all districts, however, denser network presence attained in the ...

city bus service. Halkapınar Transfer Center was originally opened in 1865 as a railway station. The transfer center opened on 22 May 2000 together with a new metro station and bus terminals and was the first complex to offer direct connection between

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

and rapid transit service in Turkey.

History

The oldest part of Halkapınar Transfer Center is the railway station. Originally built by the

Smyrna Cassaba Railway The Smyrne Cassaba & Prolongements ( English:''Smyrna Cassaba & Prolongations''), formerly The Smyrna Cassaba Railway, was a railway company operating in Western Anatolia from 1863 to 1934. History The Ottoman Government gave a concession to bui ...

(SCP), Halkapınar railway station opened on 20 July 1865 along with the railway from

Basmane Basmane railway station () is an intercity and regional railway terminal and rapid transit station in İzmir, Turkey. Along with Alsancak station, Basmane is one of two railway terminals in the city. All TCDD Taşımacılık trains terminate at t ...

Karşıyaka Karşıyaka () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 51 km2, and its population is 346,264 (2022). The district extends for twelve kilometres along the northern and eastern coastline of the tip of the Gulf of ...

and

Bornova Bornova is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 220 km2, and its population is 454,470 (2022). It is the third largest district in İzmir's metropolitan area and is almost fully urbanized at ...

. Halkapınar station was located just before the Bornova line diverged off the mainline to Karşıyaka and later

Afyon Afyonkarahisar (, 'poppy, opium', ''kara'' 'black', ''hisar'' 'fortress') is a major city in western Turkey. It is the administrative centre of Afyonkarahisar Province and Afyonkarahisar District. Its population is 251,799 (2021). Afyon is in the ...

. The SCP was bought by the

Turkish State Railways The State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (), abbreviated as TCDD, is a government-owned national railway company responsible for the ownership and maintenance of railways in Turkey, as well as the planning and construction of new lines. TCDD ...

in 1934, which continued to operate commuter trains that stopped at Halkapınar. In a plan to improve rail service around İzmir, the city municipality began planning a commuter rail and rapid transit network. Halkapınar was designated to become the primary transfer point between the two systems. In 1994, the State Railways sold the

Bornova Branch The Bornova Railway Branch was a 5.9 km long railway line, from Halkapınar to Bornova, Turkey, that branched from the SCP's main line at Halkapınar. The line was completed by the Smyrne Cassaba & Prolongements in 1866. TCDD absorbed the SC ...

to the city of İzmir, which began construction of the İzmir Metro along its right-of-way. Construction of the İzmir Metro saw the addition of two new platforms and a maintenance facility at Halkapınar. The new facilities were completed in 1999 and Halkapınar Transfer Center officially opened on 22 May 2000. In anticipation for expanded commuter service to

Aliağa Aliağa () is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 379 km2, and its population is 104,828 (2022). The town is situated at about north of İzmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its e ...

, Halkapınar station was electrified with

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union of Railways for the te ...

. The station was electrified in 2001, but never used. In 2006, plans for a new commuter rail system, İZBAN, were finalized and the rehabilitation of the railway began. Between 2006 and 2010, Halkapınar saw a suspension of heavy rail trains, due to the construction of railway tunnels in Şirinyer and

. Service returned on 5 December 2010. Ever since İZBAN began operating, Halkapınar has become the busiest station in İzmir and one of the busiest stations in Turkey. In order to accommodate the thousands of daily passengers, a second overpass was built to the east of the existing one in 2013. In 2016, Halkapınar saw a total of over 24 million boardings.

Layout

Halkapınar has a total of five

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

s serving nine tracks, three for metro, four for heavy rail in the main complex and two in the tram stop. The two island platforms on the southern side are for İzmir Metro trains on the M1 Line. Out of the other two platforms, the south platform (adjacent to the İzmir Metro platforms), is for İZBAN commuter trains, while the fourth platform is currently used for parking the freight stock. Prior to 2016, that platform was used by

intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

and regional trains to

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...

Bandırma Bandırma ()Greek: Panormos(Πανορμος)is a municipality and district of Balıkesir Province, northwestern Turkey. Its area is 755 km2, and its population is 167,363 (2024). Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the ...

Uşak Uşak () is a city in the interior part of the Aegean Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Uşak Province and Uşak District.Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

. On both sides of the platforms are railyards. On the north side is a small freight yard, used by

TCDD Taşımacılık TCDD Transport or Turkish State Railways Transport (, reporting mark TCDDT) is a government-owned railway company responsible for the operations of most passenger and freight rail in Turkey. The company was formed on 14 June 2016, splitting off ...

, for freight trains using the nearby

Port of İzmir A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manches ...

. On the south side is the İzmir Metro's Halkapınar Maintenance Facility, used for layovers and maintenance of their rolling stock. A new depot for

equipment has been built, next to the metro depot. Further south of the under construction tram depot is a bus garage, used by

, for their city bus fleet. City buses arrive and depart from two separate bus terminals, located on opposite sides of the complex. The larger bus terminal, with 9 bus bays and 17 halts, is located to the southwest, accessible via Şehitler Avenue. The majority of buses depart from this terminal. The second and smaller one, with 6 bus bays and 8 halts, is located on the north side of the complex and is accessible via 1561st Street. Both terminals are accessible via the main overpass, connecting all facilities of the transfer center. The tram station for the T2 Konak Tram is located on the southern side of the complex, along Şehitler Avenue. It is accessible via a walkway.

Bus connections

ESHOT operates city bus service on Halkapınar Transfer Center. *

Gallery

Halkapınar Train Station.jpg, The western end of the station.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halkapinar Transfer Center Transfer Centers in Turkey Railway stations in Turkey opened in 1865 Railway stations in Turkey closed in 2006 Konak District İzmir Metro stations Proposed rapid transit stations in Turkey Railway stations in Turkey opened in 2010 Railway stations in Turkey opened in 2000 Railway stations in Turkey opened in 2018