The Lake Van Express or Van Lake Express (Turkish: Van Gölü Ekspresi), operated by TCDD Transport is an overnight train consisting of pullman, couchettes, sleeping and dining wagons, which runs twice a week on the Ankara-Tatvan route of over 1,300 km.
Travelling the full route takes about 26 hours.
The train previously ran between Haydarpaşa, Istanbul and Tatvan, but due to the construction of the Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway, the service was shortened and the starting point of the journey became Ankara.
Services
It runs on Tuesdays and Sundays from Ankara. There is one train service from Tatvan on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The South Kurtulan Express runs on other days with the train going to Kurtalan instead of Van with a journey time of about 24 hours.
References
- Istanbul–Ankara railway
- Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway
- Başkentray
- Van Gölü Ekspresi (in Turkish)
- "Vangolu Express (Ankara Tatvan train)". Rail Turkey En. 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
- "Van Gölü Ekspresi". TCDD Taşımacılık. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- "Güney Kurtalan Ekspresi".
- "Güney Kurtalan Ekspresi (Southern Express) Train, Turkey". Turkey Travel Planner. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
External links
- TCDD official site Archived 2023-02-08 at the Wayback Machine </link>
- TCDD Tasimacilik official site Archived 2023-02-08 at the Wayback Machine </link>