Halkalı railway station

HALKALI
TCDD
Location	İstasyon Cd, Küçükçekmece, İstanbul
Coordinates	41°01′08″N 28°46′00″E / 41.01889°N 28.76667°ECoordinates: 41°01′08″N 28°46′00″E / 41.01889°N 28.76667°E
Owned by	TCDD
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Construction
Structure type	At-Grade
Parking	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	22 July 1872
Closed	2013-16
Rebuilt	1955, 2013-16
Electrified	1955

Halkalı railway station is the westernmost station on the İstanbul-Halkalı Line as well as in İstanbul. The station also services regional trains to Edirne, Uzunköprü, Çerkezköy and international trains to Bucharest and Belgrade. The distance of the Halkalı station to the Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal is 27.63 km (17.17 mi).

Overview

The Halkalı logistics center and the historic Halkalı electric train maintenance depot is located near the station. The station is located next to Lake Küçükçekmece and services the population in north-central Küçükçekmece. Just a little north of the station will be a depot for commuter trains once the Marmaray project is complete.

The terminal has been the departure terminal for all freight trains to Europe and became a very important container terminal. It has been used by rail container lines IFB, Express Interfracht, Europe Intermodal and Metrans. It was closed to railway traffic in June 2013 due to construction works between Çerkezköy and Halkalı.^[1] Construction work officially began in March 2014 and was said to last for 75 days.^[2] However, construction works extended which already postponed opening to 2015. There's also a project under discussion to extend Marmaray to Ispartakule, which may cause further construction works and closures in the future.^[3][4]

As Halkalı is now surrounded by residential areas due to the growth of the city, the role of being the main export customs for trucks to Europe is about to end. Trucks will use the new customs office in Catalca soon. Thus, Halkalı will have a large space for further projects. Halkalı is expected to be the main high speed train station on the European side of Istanbul after the railway connection via the new Bosphorus bridge is completed.

In June 2013, DB Schenker Rail announced a new freight route, with three trains per week between Germany and the Halkalı logistics center.^[5] However, since Halkali had not opened as planned, trials had been done using Çerkezköy Terminal, and did not continue.^[6]

Service

Previous	Turkish State Railways	Next
Ispartakule Toward Kapıkule	Halkalı-Kapıkule Regional	Terminus

References

1. Uysal, Onur. "Holiday Time for Halkali", Rail Turkey, 19 April 2013
2. Uysal, Onur. "Halkali Opening Not Before Summer", Rail Turkey, 12 March 2014
3. Uysal, Onur. "Halkali Opening may be Postponed", Rail Turkey, 25 September 2014
4. Uysal, Onur. "What Will Happen in Turkish Railways in 2015?", Rail Turkey, 1 January 2015
5. "DB Schenker introduces freight shuttle to Turkey". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
6. Uysal, Onur. "Great Openings, Deep Disappointments in Railway", Rail Turkey, 2 October 2013