The Istanbul-Sofia Express (, ) is an international

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

operating daily between

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

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 ...

and

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The train runs from Halkalı station in Istanbul, west to

Sofia Central Station The Sofia Central Railway Station () is the main passenger railway station of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, as well as the largest railway station in the country. It is located 1 km north of the city centre after Lavov most, on Marie Lo ...

in Sofia. The first train departed Halkalı station at 22:40 on 21 February 2017, carrying 22 passengers. The Istanbul-Sofia Express is the successor to the Balkan Express, which operated between Istanbul and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

until June 2013.

Overview

Train 493/81031 departs Sofia Central Station at 21:00 ( EET) each day, while its counterpart, train 492/81032, departs Halkalı station at 22:40 (

TRT The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT; Turkish: ) is the national public broadcaster of Turkey, founded in 1964. TRT was for many years the only television and radio broadcaster in Turkey. Before the introduction of commercial radio ...

) each day. These two trains meet at

Kapıkule Kapıkule is the name of the Turkish border crossing point in Edirne Province on the border of Turkey and Bulgaria. Its counterpart on the Bulgarian side is Kapitan Andreevo. Together, they form the busiest land border crossing point in Europe. K ...

, on the Turkish/Bulgarian border, where customs and passport control takes place. During non-

DST Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (United States and Canada), or summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the long ...

days, the train enters/leaves Turkish time (UTC+3) and leaves/enters

Eastern European Time Eastern European Time (EET) is one of the names of UTC+02:00 time zone, 2 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. The zone uses daylight saving time, so that it uses UTC+03:00 during the summer. A number of African countries use UTC ...

(UTC+2), setting the clock forwards/backwards by one hour after crossing the border. Between Istanbul and Dimitrovgrad the Istanbul-Sofia Express runs together with the Bosphorus Express (464/465). From Dimitrovgrad, the Bosphorus Express disconnects and heads north to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Route

The Istanbul-Sofia Express operates on routes owned 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 ...

(TCDD) and the

Bulgarian State Railways The Bulgarian State Railways (, abbreviated as БДЖ, BDZ or BDŽ) are Bulgaria's state railway company and former largest railway carrier in the country, established as an entity in 1888. The company's headquarters are located in the capital So ...

(BDŽ). *TCDD Istanbul-Pythio railway, Halkalı to

Pehlivanköy Pehlivanköy is a town in Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of 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 ...

*TCDD/BDŽ

Edirne cut-off Edirne (; ), historically known as Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second capital city of the Ottoman ...

, Pehlivanköy to

Svilengrad Svilengrad (; ; ) is a town in Haskovo Province, south-central Bulgaria, situated at the tripoint of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. Geography Svilengrad is close to the ro ...

*BDŽ Plovdiv-Svilengrad railway, Svilengrad to

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

*BDŽ Sofia-Plovdiv railway, Plovdiv to

References

External links

{{Sister project links, auto=yes, d=yes
TCDD Taşımacılık official websiteBDZ official website
Named passenger trains of Turkey Passenger rail transport in Bulgaria International named passenger trains