Adana–Aleppo railway

Adana-Aleppo railway
Adana-Aleppo railway
	The railway crossing the Seyhan River in Adana.
Overview
Native name	Adana-Halep demiryolu
Status	Operating
Locale	Çukurova; Aintab plateau; Aleppo plateau
Termini	Adana, Turkey; Aleppo, Syria;
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	Turkish State Railways; Syrian Railways
History
Opened	27 April 1912
Ayran Tunnel completed	1917
Technical
Line length	297.4 km (184.8 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV, 15 Hz
Operating speed	120 km (75 mi) (Max.)
Signalling	ETCS L0
Adana-Aleppo railway
Adana-Aleppo railway
	Legend
	Adana-Mersin railway
	to Mersin
	Toprakkale–İskendurun railway
	to İskenderun
	Fevzipaşa–Kurtalan railway
	to Diyarbakır and Kurtalan
	Turkey
	Syria
	Aleppo–Nusaybin railway
	to Nusaybin
	Aleppo–Damascus railway
	to Damascus
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

The Adana-Aleppo railway (Turkish: Adana-Halep demiryolu) is a 297.4 km (184.8 mi) long electrified railway mostly in southern Turkey. The railway begins in Adana and heads east through Osmaniye, then turns south after crossing the Nur Mountains and runs into Syria. Due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the 118 kilometres (73 mi) portion of the route within Syria is mostly abandoned and in disrepair. On the Turkish side, trains run as far south to İslahiye, about 22 km (14 mi) north of the Syrian border. While the tracks south of İslahiye to the border are maintained, no scheduled trains currently run on them.

The Adana-Aleppo railway was built by the Baghdad Railway and mostly constructed between 1908 and 1912, with the 4.9 km (3.0 mi) long Ayran Tunnel completed in 1917.^[1] Together with the Konya-Yenice railway the route played a crucial role during World War I, transporting men and materiel to the fronts in Mesopotamia and Palestine. After the war and subsequent peace treaties, the railway was split between Turkey and Syria.

As part of the Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep high-speed railway corridor, the Adana-Aleppo railway is being expanded to two-tracks and upgraded to accommodate speeds of 160 km/h (99 mph) to 200 km/h (120 mph).^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "Baghdad Railway". trainsofturkey.com. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
^ "Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep Hızlı Tren Projesi". tcdd.gov.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 May 2023.

[ciob-1] "Baghdad Railway". trainsofturkey.com. Retrieved 5 May 2023.

[tcdd-2] "Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep Hızlı Tren Projesi". tcdd.gov.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 May 2023.

[1]

[2]