Halkalı railway station

Halkalı station is the westernmost station on the Marmaray line as well as in Istanbul. The station also services regional trains to Edirne, Uzunköprü, Çerkezköy and international trains to Sofia. In summer, there may be through trains to Bucharest too. Halkalı station is from the Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal.

Overview

The Halkalı logistics center and the old Halkalı electric train maintenance depot are located near the station. The station is next to Lake Küçükçekmece and services the population in north-central Küçükçekmece.
The terminal is the departure terminal for all freight trains to Europe and is an important container terminal, used by rail container lines IFB, Express Interfracht, Europe Intermodal and Metrans. It is possible that the Marmaray will eventually be extended to Ispartakule, which may cause further construction works and closures in the future.
As Halkalı is now surrounded by residential areas due to the growth of the city, its role as the main customs post for trucks to Europe is due to end, with trucks using the new Muratbey Customs Office in Çatalca instead.
A Metro line from the station to the new Istanbul Airport is under construction.
Between July 2005 and February 2011 the Friendship Express, made scheduled stops at Halkalı.
Between 1991 and March 2013 the Balkan Express,, Bulgarian State Railways, Serbian Railways and Hungarian State Railways linking Istanbul's Sirkeci station, Turkey and Budapest Keleti station, via Sofia, Bulgaria and Belgrade, Serbia, made scheduled stops at Halkalı.