Newsletters
Tickets for the new winter season of the Touristic Eastern Express, a seasonal tourist train running between the capital Ankara and the eastern city of Kars, will go on sale tomorrow for individual passengers at 1:55 p.m. local time (10:55 a.m. GMT).
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a written statement that the train will host passengers again in the new season.
Uraloglu said it will run a total of 70 services in the 2026-2027 winter season, 35 in each direction.
“Our Ankara-Kars services will run from Dec. 21, 2026, to March 10, 2027, and our Kars-Ankara services from Dec. 23, 2026, to March 12, 2027,” he said.
The minister said that the trains will depart on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Ankara-Kars direction, and on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Kars-Ankara direction.
Giving information about ticket sales, he said sales for individual passengers will start tomorrow at 1:55 p.m. local time (10:55 a.m. GMT), and tickets can be obtained through the sales channels of TCDD Tasimacilik, Türkiye’s state railway passenger operator.
“The Touristic Eastern Express offers passengers the chance to see the cities along the route through its sightseeing stops,” he said.
He added that sightseeing stops will be made at the Erzincan and Erzurum stations in the Ankara-Kars direction, and at the Ilic, Divrigi and Sivas stations in the Kars-Ankara direction.
“Besides the train journey, our passengers will also have the opportunity to see Anatolia’s historical and cultural treasures on site,” Uraloglu said.
Anatolia is the peninsula that makes up most of Türkiye’s territory.
The Touristic Eastern Express is a seasonal tourist version of the regular Eastern Express, a train that runs between Ankara, the capital, and Kars, a city in northeastern Türkiye.
TCDD Tasimacilik launched it in May 2019 in response to rising demand for the regular service, particularly among passengers traveling to photograph and explore eastern Anatolia.
The route covers more than 1,300 kilometers. According to the Ministry of Transport, the train carried 10,166 passengers on 60 one-way services during the 2025-2026 winter season.
The 70 services planned for the 2026-2027 season are 10 more than in the previous season.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
