Türkiye’s Eastern Express, one of the world’s finest railway routes provide an unforgettable journey from the center to the east of Türkiye, started welcoming its passengers. As a route that every adventure seeker visiting Türkiye should experience, the Eastern Express recently completed its first service of the 2023-2024 period. Spanning approximately 1,310 kilometers, the train journey begins in Türkiye’s capital, Ankara, continues to Kırıkkale, Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan, and Erzurum, and concludes in Kars. Taking around 26 hours, the trip allows passengers to observe the diverse geography of Türkiye along the route and see how the eastern provinces transform into extraordinary winter destinations during the season. A ‘One-of-a-kind’ adventure Two separate trains operate on the Ankara-Kars route, the Eastern Express and the Touristic Eastern Express. The Eastern Express grew so popular recently that a touristic version was added to the route in 2019 to meet demand. The Eastern Express features pullman and couchette wagons and has approximately 50 stops, whereas the Touristic Eastern Express includes sleeping and dining wagons and has 29 stops. While the Eastern Express has limited break times, the Touristic Eastern Express has two- to three-hour breaks so passengers can see more along the route. The Touristic Eastern Express’s new season service makes sightseeing stops at the Erzincan and Erzurum stations in the Ankara-Kars direction and at the İliç, Divriği and Sivas stations in the Kars-Ankara direction, which is the return route. The Touristic Eastern Express has eight sleeping beds and one dining car, which are pretty comfortable. Each sleeping car has ten compartments (rooms) with two beds. Although passengers can enjoy breakfast and dinner in the dining car, a growing trend – influenced by social media – …
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