TURKEY: The historical monuments section of the Ministry of Culture & Tourism has approved plans for Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa station to be modernised for use by high speed services.
The landmark waterfront station on the Asian side of the city opened in 1908. Services were suspended in 2013 because of works for the Marmaray suburban and Ankara – Istanbul high speed line projects, with suburban services now using the tunnel under the Bosporus.
Conversion of the station into a hotel or shopping centre has been proposed, but it will now be modernised to become the terminus of high speed services from Ankara, pending completion of the third Bosporus bridge which will carry road and inter-city rail services to the European side of the city.
