Train tickets

The online booking system has indeed changed and is much easier to navigate(it could not possibly be worse than it was!).The one pity is that the sales info is only in Turkish,not a lot of use to foreign visitors but anyway having looked through it for info about e-sales I came across a passage which clearly states that the SMS recieved contains all the ticket info and is accepted as a valid ticket.
However when booking you can elect to have the e ticket sent to an e mail adress so perhaps you may like to do this and then you can download and print it off - just to be on the safe side :)

https://yolcu.tcdd.gov.tr/view/eybis/tnmGenel/menuPage.jsf?faces-redirect=true&page=%2011912530756
In the penultimate line under 'Bilet' you can read-
E-Biletler için sistemden alınan mail çıktılarında da seferin özelliğine göre yukarıdaki bilgiler yer alır. Anahat ve YHT trenlerine yapılan bilet satışlarında,gönderilen bilgi SMS'leri de bilet yerine geçer.
This means the information sent in an e mail carries all the required info and SMS info is accepted as a hard ticket.

EDIT:I just remembered....have you seen the latest trip review by forum member Kesane in the sticky at the top of the page?I ask because they include a very detailed section from the north east covering driving quite a lot of what you plan to do.I thought of you when I read it!

Thankyou so much for your detailed and thorough reply (again!). I will report back with my experiences when the time comes.

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