9th of September Express

9th of September Express
The 9th of September Express at Ayvacık station
Overview
Service typeIntercity rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleWestern Turkey
First service9 September 2003
Last serviceJanuary 2010
Current operatorTurkish State Railways
Route
TerminiBasmane Terminal, İzmir
Ankara station
Average journey timeApproximately 13 hours
Service frequencyDaily in each direction (historically)
On-board services
Seating arrangementsSeated coaches
Sleeping arrangementsCouchette and sleeping cars
Catering facilitiesDining car
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Track ownerTCDD

The 9th of September Express (Turkish: 9 Eylül Ekspresi) was an overnight intercity passenger train operated by Turkish State Railways (TCDD) between İzmir Basmane and Ankara station via Manisa, Balıkesir, Kütahya and Eskişehir. The service was introduced in September 2003 and withdrawn in January 2010.

Its name commemorated 9 September 1922, when Turkish forces entered İzmir and ended the city's occupation by Greece during the Greco-Turkish War.

History

Introduction and operation

The 9th of September Express was announced on 8 September 2003 as a new overnight service between Ankara and İzmir, with its first departure scheduled for the following day. Its initial formation comprised one compartment coach, two seated coaches, one couchette car, one sleeping car and one dining car. Contemporary reporting gave its total passenger capacity as 246.

The train provided another overnight connection between Ankara and İzmir alongside the Karesi Express and the İzmir Blue Train. It followed a route through six provincial capitals: İzmir, Manisa, Balıkesir, Kütahya, Eskişehir and Ankara. The journey was scheduled to take approximately 13 hours in each direction.

TCDD's 2008 Activity Report recorded 240,023 passengers on the service in 2007 and 221,098 in 2008, a decrease of about 8%.

In summer 2008 and 2009, the express was also used for combined rail-and-road journeys between Ankara and the Aegean coastal destinations of Akçay and Ayvalık. Passengers transferred to connecting buses at Balıkesir station.

Withdrawal

In December 2009, TCDD announced the withdrawal of the 9th of September Express, with the final services scheduled for 16–17 January 2010. The operator cited the need to make time available for track-renewal works, alongside the poor operating efficiency of some services on routes also served by road transport. Subsequent reporting identified the Kütahya–Gökçedağ, Gökçedağ–Nusrat and Nusrat–Balıkesir sections among the lines requiring renewal works.

Route and accommodation

The service connected the Aegean coast with the Turkish capital via Manisa, Balıkesir, Kütahya and Eskişehir, using the same broad corridor as the Karesi Express and İzmir Blue Train. It operated daily in both directions. At its introduction, its six-car formation provided seated accommodation, couchettes, sleeping accommodation and a dining car.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ankara-İzmir arasına yeni tren". İnternethaber (in Turkish). 8 September 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Bazı trenler seferden kaldırılıyor". Dünya (in Turkish). 31 December 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  3. ↑ "1922" (in Turkish). Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  4. ↑ TCDD, Raillife, no. 34 (October 2008), p. 76.
  5. 1 2 2008 Faaliyet Raporu (PDF) (Report) (in Turkish). Turkish State Railways. p. 67. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 2008 Yılı Sektör Raporu (PDF) (Report) (in Turkish). Turkish State Railways. p. 16. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  7. ↑ "Edremit ve Ayvalık'a Ankara bağlantılı ek ekspres tren seferi". İl Gazetesi (in Turkish). 26 June 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "18 yolcu treni seferden kaldırıldı". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 20 November 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2026.