Transport in Turkey


Transport in Turkey is road-dominated and mostly fuelled by diesel. Transport consumes a quarter of energy in Turkey, and is a major source of air pollution in Turkey and greenhouse gas emissions by Turkey. The World Health Organization has called for more active transport such as cycling. As of 2023 health impact assessment is not done in Turkey.

Rail transport

Rail network

The TCDD – Türkiye Devlet Demir Yolları (Turkish State Railways) possess 13,919 km of gauge, of which 7,142 km are electrified.
There are daily regular passenger trains all through the network. TCDD has started an investment program of building 5.000 km high-speed lines until 2023. Multiple high speed train routes are running, including: Ankara-Eskişehir-İstanbul, Ankara-Konya and Ankara-Sivas lines.
The freight transportation is mainly organized as block trains for domestic routes, since TCDD discourages under 200 to loads by surcharges.

Urban rail

After almost 30 years without any trams, Turkey is experiencing a revival in trams. Established in 1992, the tram system of Istanbul earned the best large-scale tram management award in 2005. Another award-winning tram network belongs to Eskişehir where a modern tram system opened in 2004. In 2010, Kayseri won the "Worldwide Project of the Year" and "Best Urban Integration Project of the Year" awards for being a light rail system with nearly the entire route constructed as a green track. Several other cities are planning or constructing tram lines, with modern low-flow trams.
By 2014, there have been 12 cities in Turkey using railroads for transportation.

Railway links with adjacent countries

Road transport

Road transport is responsible for much air pollution in Turkey and almost a fifth of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions, mainly via diesel. It is one of 3 G20 countries without a fuel efficiency standard. there are many old, inefficient, polluting trucks. Retiring old polluting vehicles by forcing all cars and trucks to meet tailpipe emission standards would reduce disease, especially from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons., the country has a roadway network of. The Eurasia Tunnel provides an undersea road connection for motor vehicles. The Bosphorus Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge are the three suspension bridges connecting the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus strait. The Osman Gazi Bridge connects the northern and southern shores of the Gulf of İzmit. The 1915 Çanakkale Bridge, connects the European and Asian shores of the Dardanelles strait.
Fuel quality and emissions standards are not as good as those in the EU, and as of 2024 about 1% of cars and almost no commercial vehicles on the road are electric.
In 2023 the World Bank said the government should plan and subsidize the rollout of public electric car chargers, particularly because so many people live in flats. They said that a subsidy would provide environmental and social benefits. They also said that cities should set an end date for diesel buses.
In the same year, according to a study by Dr. Hüseyin Korkmaz of Istanbul University, Istanbul drivers lost an average of 105 hours due to traffic congestion. The research, utilizing AI to analyze data from the Turkish National Police, identified 97,354 traffic accidents in the city that year, with many occurring during peak hours on major routes. The study highlights that even minor accidents can significantly disrupt traffic flow, especially when lanes are closed. Dr. Korkmaz suggests that addressing Istanbul's traffic issues requires improved public transportation, better urban planning, and measures to control population growth and vehicle usage.

Road network

There are three types of intercity roads in Turkey:
– The first is the historical and free road network called State roads that are completely under the responsibility of the General Directorate of Highways except for urban sections as this types of roads entered popular culture by the means of Turks in Germany. They also depend on the General Directorate of Highways except those that are financed with a BOT model.
– The third type of roads are provincial roads '' are highways of secondary importance linking districts within a province to each other, the provincial center, the districts in the neighboring provinces, the state roads, railway stations, seaports, and airports
As of 2023, there are 471 tunnels and 9.660 bridges on the network.

Public road transport

There are numerous private bus companies providing connections between cities in Turkey.
For local trips to villages there are dolmuşes, small vans that seat about twenty passengers.
As of 2024, number of road vehicles is around 31 million. The number of vehicles by type and use is as follows.

Motor vehicles by year (2002-2024)

Source

Escooters

Escooter rental is available in some cities, and escooters can be used on cycle paths, and on urban roads without cycle paths where the speed limit is below 50 kph.

Car ownership

about 10% of cars sold were electric, and over half the registered motor vehicles were cars - about 16.2 million - of which 5.5 million were diesel fueled, 5.2 million LPG, 4,9 million gasoline, 0.4 million hybrid, and 0.2 million electric.

Air transport

In 2013 Turkey had the tenth largest passenger air market in the world with 74,353,297 passengers. In 2013 there were 98 airports in Turkey, including 22 international airports., Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the 11th busiest airport in the world, serving 31,833,324 passengers between January and July 2014, according to Airports Council International. The new (third) international airport of Istanbul is planned to be the largest airport in the world, with a capacity to serve 150 million passengers per annum. Turkish Airlines, flag carrier of Turkey since 1933, was selected by Skytrax as Europe's best airline for five consecutive years in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. With 435 destinations (51 domestic and 384 international) in 126 countries worldwide, Turkish Airlines is the largest carrier in the world by number of countries served as of 2016.

Airports

Total number of Airports in Turkey: 117
Airports – with paved runways

total:
88

over 3,047 m:
16

2,438 to 3,047 m:

1,524 to 2,437 m:
19

914 to 1,523 m:
16

under 914 m:
4
Airports – with unpaved runways

total:
11

1,524 to 2,437 m:

914 to 1,523 m:

under 914 m:
4
Heliports
20

Water transport

About 1,200 km

Ports and harbours

Black Sea
Aegean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
Sea of Marmara

Air pollution

Road traffic is a major source of air pollution in Turkey, and Istanbul is one of the few European cities without a low emission zone.
Transport emitted 85 megatonnes of CO2 in 2018, about one tonne per person and 16 percent of Turkey's greenhouse gas emissions. Road transport dominated transport emissions with 79 megatonnes, including agricultural vehicles.