İZBAN

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İzmir Banliyö Sistemi

Southbound train #30085 at Ulukent.
Reporting mark İZBAN
Locale İzmir
Dates of operation 2007–
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification 25 kV AC
Length 80 km (50 mi)
Headquarters Alsancak Terminal, Alsancak
Website İZBAN Official Site

İZBAN, sometimes referred to as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving İzmir and its metropolitan area. It is the busiest commuter railway in Turkey, serving about 150,000 passengers daily.[1] İZBAN is a portmanteau of the words "İzmir" and "Banliyö" (suburb in Turkish).

Established in 2007 and began operations in 2010, İZBAN was formed to revive commuter rail in İzmir. Currently, İZBAN operates a 80 km (50 mi) long system, with 31 stations, consisting of two lines: the Southern Line and the Northern Line.

İZBAN A.Ş. operates the railway and is owned 50% by the Turkish State Railways and 50% by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. İZBAN is a part of the municipality's Egeray project.

Fares

İZBAN has a system wide fare of 1.75 TL for adults and 0.95 TL for students and seniors using the Kentkart smartcard. Passengers also have a 90 minute free transfer after using a bus or subway for İZBAN.

Routes

İZBAN currently has two routes; The Northern Line, serving the northern districts of the city and into Aliağa, The Southern Line, serving the southern districts, Adnan Menderes Airport and the southern town of Menderes.

Route Distance Termini Districts served
     Northern Line 53 km (33 mi) Alsancak
Aliağa 		Konak, Bayraklı, Karşıyaka, Çiğli, Menemen, Aliağa
     Southern Line 23 km (14 mi) Alsancak
Cumaovası 		Konak, Buca, Gaziemir, Menderes

History

İZBAN A.Ş. was jointly created on 10 January 2007 by the İzmir Municipality and the Turkish State Railways to operate commuter service within the city. Previously commuter service was operated by the State Railways but service wasn't very frequent and trains weren't as efficient. By 2006 commuter ridership within İzmir was at its all time lowest with only 98,000 boardings that year. This followed a steady decrease in ridership since the 1990s.[2] In order to revive commuter service in the city, the State Railways executed a complete overhaul of their two lines within the city. On 23 July 2006 the State Railways temporarily suspended all rail service into İzmir. Regional and intercity trains would terminate at Çiğli in the north and Gaziemir in the south.

During this time, the 24 existing commuter stations were rebuilt and 5 new stations were added. 15 new bus transfer terminals were added to integrate commuter service with the city wide bus service ESHOT. All grade crossings were converted to overpasses or underpasses with the exception of 7 crossings that were operational when service began. Today, only 3 remain and will be removed in the near future. Two railway tunnels were built in Karşıyaka and Şirinyer with a total of 4 underground stations and the railway's former right of way were converted into parks. Tracks were relaid with cement ties and signalization was upgraded to a central control station at Alsancak. Turnstiles were added at stations to integrate them with the city wide smartcard, Kentkart. A new maintenance facility was opened in Çiğli as well as a small yard was opened in Cumaovası for the trains. Works on the southern line finished in mid-2009 and regional service was restored to Basmane station. Works on the Northern Line was finished in Spring 2010 and service was restored on 1 May 2010.

Service

İzmir transportation network map: IZBAN lines (orange and red) connected with the blue Metro line

Currently, İZBAN operates 164 daily trains in both directions between Cumaovası and Aliağa.[3] The entire line between Cumaovası and Aliağa are owned by the Turkish State Railways. There are also bus terminals integrated with several new stations. These stations are: Halkapınar, Şirinyer, Semt Garajı, Esbaş, Sarnıç and Cumaovası on the Southern Line, Mavişehir, Çiğli, Egekent 2, Hatundere, Biçerova, Menemen and Ulukent on the Northern Line.

Ridership

İZBAN is by far the busiest commuter railroad in Turkey, carrying more passengers than the rest of Turkey's other commuter railroads combined.[4] The average daily ridership is about 100,000. In its first month, İZBAN carried about 2,000 passengers daily, this grew to 40,000 by the end of December and doubled to 80,000 by February. With the opening of the rail-bus transfers on the Northern Line, daily ridership has increased to 100,000. This is expected to rise to 140,000 by April. İZBAN, being only 6 month old has carried more than 1.6 million passengers since its opening on August 30, 2010, making it one of the worlds fastest growing commuter railroads.[5] Below is a list of the top 10 busiest stations on the system as of September, 2011.

Rank Station Passengers (2011) Daily Passengers Line
1
Karşıyaka
2,061,535
8,380
Northern Line
2
Şirinyer
1,943,187
7,899
Southern Line
3
Halkapınar
1,793,536
7,290
Northern Line
4
Alsancak
1,483,999
6,032
Northern Line
Southern Line
5
Çiğli
1,396,351
5,676
Northern Line
6
Menemen
1,044,191
4,244
Northern Line
7
Sarnıç
948,731
3,856
Southern Line
8
Nergiz
879,333
3,574
Northern Line
9
Bayraklı
872,063
3,544
Northern Line
10
Demirköprü
819,504
3,331
Northern Line

Future Extension

Cumaovası-Torbalı

Currently, İZBAN plans on extending its line 30 km south of Cumaovası to Torbalı after the line opens to Aliağa. This is planned to upgrade 4 existing stations: Tekeli, Pancar, Tepeköy and Torbalı. Also 3 more overpasses for motorways will be built.[6] On March 6, 2011, the project was approved by the ministry of transport and the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Aliağa-Bergama / Torbalı-Selçuk

After the Torbalı extension is finished, İZBAN plans to extend the line 55 km north of Aliağa to Bergama and 32 km south of Torbalı to Selçuk. The goal of this project is to link the ancient cities of Pergamon and Ephesus with İzmir by rail.[7]

Menemen-Manisa

An extension to Manisa is planned and construction is expected to begin towards the end of 2011. This would mean the upgrading of several stations (Emiralem, Ayvacık, Muradiye, Horozköy) and a major upgrade of Manisa, as well as adding a few new stations to serve all villages near the line. Together with this, the existing single track line, would be made double track and electrified with 25 kV AC overhead wire.

Gallery

  • A southbound train departing Alsancak station.

  • A southbound train departing Çiğli station.

  • A train waiting to head back to Alsancak station during a test run before its opening.

  • A northbound train arriving at Çiğli station.

  • A train arriving at Alsancak station on opening day.

  • E22017 at Alsancak Station.

  • E22008 at Adnan Menderes Airport.

  • İZBAN at Alsancak station.

References

  1. ↑ İZBAN
  2. ↑ TCDD Annual Report - 2002-06
  3. ↑ İZBAN Sefer Saatleri
  4. ↑ Ege den son söz - With the opening of the rail-bus transfers, İZBAN's daily passengers have risen to 100,000 and is expected to keep on growing.
  5. ↑ Milliyet - İZBAN büyüyor, hedef sayı 2 milyon.
  6. ↑ İZBAN - Vikipedi (Turkish)
  7. ↑ İZBAN - Vikipedi (Turkish)
Stock
Routes
Main Stations
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