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The Trans Asya Ekspresi (Trans-Asia
Express) supposedly departs Istanbul (Haydarpasa) at
23:55 (11:55 pm) on Wednesday,
and arrives at Tatvan Iskelesi (Tatvan
Dock) on the shores of Lake
Van in Eastern
Turkey at 14:50 (2:50 pm) on Friday.
Here's
the complete TCDD website schedule,
in English. And here's
a somewhat different TCDD schedule.
The two schedules do not agree. I don't
know which one is the correct schedule.
Only the TCDD (Turkish State Railways)
knows.
After arriving in Tatvan, in principle
you cross Lake
Van on a ferryboat, arriving
in the city of Van at
18:25 (6:25 pm) on Friday. But
you may find yourself taking a
bus or minibus around the lake
instead, as the ferry is not reliable.
In principle, you have about 7 hours
to make the 150-km (93-mile) trip between
Tatvan and Van,
which should only take between 2 and
3 hours by minibus, but the
train may be late arriving
in Tatvan. Still, you should have enough
time to get to Van for the departure
of the onward train.
The train departs the Van
Iskelesi (Van
Dock) station at 21:30 (9:30 pm)
on Friday and reaches the Turkish-Iranian
border at Kapiköy at
23:55 (11:55 pm). Here's
the schedule.
After about 1-1/2 hours at the border,
the
train leaves the Turkish border station
at Kapiköy for Razi and Tabriz, arriving
on Saturday in
Teheran about 20
hours later.
The entire journey (if the train is
on time) takes nearly 70 hours , or
about three
days.
The Trans Asya hauls couchette
cars. The one-way
fare from Istanbul to
Teheran is TL118,
including the couchette fees (mandatory).
Traveling from Teheran to Istanbul,
the train departs the Kapiköy border
station on Friday at 17:40 (5:40 pm)
and arrives at Van Iskelesi at 19:56
(7:56 pm). You then take the ferry
to Tatvan.
Here's
the schedule.
From Tatvan, the Trans Asya Express
departs early Saturday morning at 04:52
am, and arrives in Ankara on Sunday
at 08:30 am, then departs at 09:30
am for Istanbul (Haydarpasa), arriving
at 18:34 (6:34 pm). Here's
the schedule.
The round-trip/return fare is
twice the one-way fare.
The train begins its return
journey from Teheran on Thursday at
20:15 (8:15 pm), arriving in Istanbul
on Sunday at 15:45 (3:45 pm).
On other days of the week, the Trans
Asya's place is taken (more or less)
by the Vangölü/Güney
Ekspresi, but that train
does not go to Iran.
Please read this
safety notice about overnight
travel.
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