Sirkeci Terminal

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Side entrance to Sirkeci Terminal

Sirkeci Terminal is a terminus main station of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) in Sirkeci, on the European part of Istanbul, Turkey. International, domestic and regional trains running westwards depart from this station which was inaugurated as the terminus of the Orient Express.

1 History
2 The terminal building
3 International lines
4 Orient Express
5 Public transport links
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

After the Crimean War, the Ottoman authorities concluded that a railway had to be built between Europe and Istanbul. The first contract was signed with Labro, a British member of parliament, in January 1857. The contract was cancelled three months later because Labro was unable to provide the investment capital required. Similar second and third contracts signed with British and Belgian entrepreneurs in 1860 and 1868 ended with the same result. On April 17, 1869, the concession for the "Rumeli Railroad" was awarded to Baron Maurice de Hirsch (Moritz Freiherr Hirsch auf Gereuth), a Bavaria-born banker from Belgium. The project foresaw a route from Istanbul via Edirne, Plovdiv and Sarajevo to the shore of the Sava River. The construction of the first 15 km from Istanbul to Halkali began on June 4, 1870 and was completed on January 4, 1871. An extension of the line to Sirkeci was demanded as the starting point since Yeşilköy was too far away from Eminönü, the main business district of that epoch. The first proposed option for the line was a route from Beyazit down to the shore of the Golden Horn. The Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz decided and permitted the route to run on the shoreline of the Sea of Marmara bordering the walls of Topkapı Palace’s lower garden. The extension line was completed on July 21, 1872. In 1873, a "temporary" terminus station in Sirkeci was built.

[edit] The terminal building

The interior of the Sirkeci terminal

The construction of a new terminal building began on February 11, 1888. The terminus, which was initially named "Müşir Ahmet Paşa Station", was opened on November 3, 1890, replacing the temporary one. The architect of the project was August Jachmund, a Prussian who was sent to Istanbul by the German government in order to study Ottoman architecture, but lectured architectural design at the School of Polytechnics in Istanbul (now Istanbul Technical University). The terminal building which rises on an area of 1,200 m2 is one of the most famous examples of European Orientalism, which also influenced the designs of other architects. The building was also modern, having gas lighting and heating in winter.

The terminal restaurant became a meeting point for journalists, writers and other prominent people from the media in the 1950s and 1960s. The same restaurant, today called "Orient Express", is a popular spot among tourists.

The current station is preserved in its original state, but the areas around the terminal building have largely changed since 1890.

[edit] International lines

The terminal constitutes the main connection node of the Turkish railway network with the rest of Europe. The two main lines of connection are provided by the line running between Istanbul and Thessaloniki, Greece, and the Bosphorus Express serving daily between Sirkeci and Gara de Nord in Bucharest, Romania. Connections to Sofia, Belgrade, Budapest, and Chişinău are established with wagons attached to the Bosphorus Express train.

[edit] Orient Express

Main article: Orient Express

On October 4, 1883 the first voyage of the Orient Express departed from Gare de l'Est in Paris, France with farewell music from Mozart’s Turkish March. The train was a project of Belgian businessman Georges Nagelmackers. The route passed through Strasbourg in France, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Munich in Germany, Vienna in Austria, Budapest in Hungary, Bucharest in Romania, Rousse and Varna in Bulgaria ending in Sirkeci. The travel took 80 hours for the 3,094 km. The famed Orient Express, which transported kings, princes and statesmen, stopped running on May 19, 1977 due to difficulties in passing through the Iron Curtain countries. Orient Express was revived in 1982 by an American businessman and runs various routes that include London and Venice, but not in the same grand style as before.