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The Touristic Salt Express is expected to bring 6,000 visitors from Ankara to Cankiri during its new season, which is set to begin on April 18 and run through Nov. 28.
Organized by Cankiri Municipality with support from the North Anatolia Development Agency, the Touristic Salt Express first launched on May 18, 2024. Since then, including trial runs, the train has completed 54 trips between Ankara and Cankiri.
The service made its final trip of last year on Nov. 22, after carrying around 10,000 visitors from different parts of Türkiye to the central Anatolian city. Now, local officials expect the route to keep helping Cankiri's tourism sector grow as it heads into a new season.
Cankiri Municipality Project Coordinator Fatih Eroglu said planning for the 2026 season has been completed. He noted that the train will depart from Ankara in the morning and return the same evening, making the route a day-trip tourism experience for visitors coming from the capital.
According to Eroglu, guests will first be welcomed with local folk dances from the Cankiri region before heading to the Salt Cave, one of the city's best-known visitor sites. The program will then continue through Cankiri's historic landmarks, old bazaars and traditional streets.
The itinerary shows that the train is being promoted not simply as transport, but as a full tourism package built around the city's cultural and historic character. Alongside the Salt Cave, visitors will be taken through Cankiri's traditional urban areas, giving them a broader look at the city in a single-day trip.
Eroglu said the service also supports the local and regional economy, adding that spending by visitors during these trips benefits local shopkeepers.
The train has a capacity of 250 passengers, and the municipality expects to host 6,000 guests over 24 trips this season. Eroglu said the original assumption had been that the service would mainly appeal to visitors from places close to Ankara or from Istanbul, but demand has widened.
He said travelers from cities including Kayseri, Antalya, Yalova, Eskisehir and Izmir have also started choosing the route to experience the train journey and visit Cankiri. He added that 16 travel agencies from different parts of Türkiye were hosted this year, and that some have also begun bringing weekend groups to Cankiri and the Salt Cave by bus.
As part of efforts to improve how guests are received, Eroglu said a new stop has been added to the visitor route: the Carpet Museum, where 200-year-old rugs are on display.
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