Hello
I am going to Iran next year and want to travel by train from Turkey to Tehran if possible. Does anybody here know if the service is still running? Or if it goes from Ankara? I'm getting conflicting information - the man in Seat61 says the service has been cancelled because of security concerns but a travel agent I emailed in Tehran told me it's still leaving every Wednesday.
Many thanks
Having searched the TCDD web site I finally found this but only in the Turkish page,not the English menu page.
http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/uluslararasi+m101
If you scroll almost down to the bottom you will see a section on the TransAsia train and it says that due to new rail works the Transasya train and the Van to Tebriz train services are temporarily suspended.Hopefully by the time you want to travel next year the line will be open again and if it is then the train runs once a week departing Ankara on Wednesdays at 10.25 arriving in Tehran on Friday at 20.20.
Just to test this I tried to book a ticket for the train and neither Tebriz nor Tehran came up as destination options so I guess this information is still accurate at present.Good luck for next year however :)
BTW,Seat61 is correct in that earlier this year the train was suspended temporarily(at the request of the Iranian government)due to PKK terror attacks on the trains.But now it's line works-and there are line works taking place on the system all over the country as you may know.
Hello,
In Turkey a huge railway construction program is underway to turn its antiquated railways into something resembling 21st century. Unfortunately this project is far from the end and the result is a mess until the construction is finally finished.
It's a pity because Turkey got some very scenic routes and it used to be great to travel by train.
You can travel from Ankara to Erzurum or Kars OR Ankara to Tatvan by train, than continue by bus to Tabriz, where you can take a train again to Tehran. In Iran try to book trains in in advance, because they're often booked out days before departure.
The information from seat61 tends to be more reliable than anything else.
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