Scenic route
Doğu Ekspresi
Ankara → Kars · Türkiye
Turkey’s cult 1,365 km trans-Anatolian sleeper to the snowy Caucasus frontier at Kars; social-media fame makes seats sell out weeks ahead.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 18713200 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within 174 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: 98.5% of this line lies within 250 m of real track (median 53 m); the longest stretch away from it is 2.5 km
- Checked against the running timetable via ÖBB Scotty: our line sits 0.2 km from the shape of IC 22010
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Doğu Ekspresi?
The Doğu Ekspresi runs 1,365 km from Ankara to Kars.
How long does the Doğu Ekspresi take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 25 h for the 1,365 km. That is an average of 55 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 120 km/h.
Who runs the Doğu Ekspresi?
TCDD Taşımacılık, with TCDD sleeper & couchette cars.
How old is the Doğu Ekspresi?
The line has been in service since 1936. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
How often does the Doğu Ekspresi run?
1 direct trains on a weekday (counted on 2 September 2026).
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