The Karesi Express() was an overnight train, operating between

Alsancak Terminal Alsancak railway station () is one of the two main railway terminals in İzmir and is the second-oldest railway station in Turkey, after Kemer, being completed in 1858.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 ...

and

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. The train was one of two current train services between İzmir and Ankara. The eastbound journey took about 14 hours and 16 minutes, while the westbound journey took about 14 hours and 45 minutes. The Karesi Express serviced 6 provincial capitals:

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 ...

Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...

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 ...

Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...

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 ...

and

. When 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 ...

opened the Balıkesir-Kütahya rail line on April 23, 1938 (connecting the former SCP and the CFOA lines), rail travel between İzmir and Ankara was possible. Ankara is the capital 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 Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

while İzmir is the 3rd largest city in Turkey (2nd largest at the time), making transport between the two cities heavy. On April 23, 1938 the ''Karesi Express'' made its first run from İzmir to Ankara. The all pullman train made the 824 km long journey in about 18 hours. On April 1, 1972, another train was put into service between İzmir and Ankara: the

9th of September Express The 9th of September Express () was an overnight train, operated by the Turkish State Railways, from Basmane Terminal, İzmir to Ankara Central Station, Ankara. The name of the service refers to 9 September 1922, the date on which the Greek occupat ...

. This train however had a

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

. In 1980 the third train was put in service: The

İzmir Blue Train The İzmir Blue Train () is one of the 3, still operating, "'' Blue Train''" services. The train made its first run on 17 May 1984. At first, the train was operating between Alsancak station in İzmir and Central Station in Ankara. But in 2006, ...

. On 1 April 2013 the route of the Karesi Express was cut back to Balıkesir.No trains between Balikesir and Ankara for 2 and a half years
- yenihabergazetesi.net Since 2013 the train operates as a

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

train between İzmir and Balıkesir. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Karesi Express was suspended on 12 March 2020.

Name

The name "Karaesi Express" comes from the beylik of

Karasi Karasi may refer to: * Kärasi Kärasi is a village in Mustvee Parish, Jõgeva County in northeastern Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland ac ...

, that had its capital city in Balıkesir, a city which the Karesi Express passes through.

Consist

The consist of the train has changed many times through the years, since the first 4 car train left Ankara in 1938. These changes usually happen because of other trains being put into or removed from service. Between 2016 and 2020 the consisted usually was: *

TCDD E68000 TCDD E68000 (stylised as E 68 000 on painted registration numbers) is a series of electric locomotives used by the Turkish State Railways. The locomotives have a power output of 5,000 kW and are capable of 140 km/h (87 mph) speed. History Th ...

*5 TVS2000 Coaches Between 2001 and 2016 the consist was: *DE22000 *TVS2000 Generator Car *4 Intercity coaches *Intercity diner *Intercity couchette The first consist that began service on April 23, 1938 consisted of: *Steam locomotive *Coach *Coach *Diner/Coach *Couchette

Gallery

E68016 Karesi.jpg, E68016 pulling a northbound train in Izmir.

References

{{TCDD Routes Named passenger trains of Turkey