İZBAN

Fares

İZBAN has a system wide fare of 2.60 TL for adults and 1.50 TL for students and seniors using the İzmirim card RFID smartcard. Passengers also have a 90 minute unlimited free transfer between İZBAN and any of the ESHOT system buses, subways or ferry lines.

Routes

İZBAN currently has two routes; The Northern Line, serving the northern districts of the city and into Aliağa, The Southern Line, serving the southern districts, Adnan Menderes Airport, the southern town of Menderes and the southern town of Torbalı.

History

İZBAN A.Ş. was jointly created on 10 January 2007 by the İzmir Municipality and the Turkish State Railways to operate commuter service within the city. Previously commuter service was operated by the State Railways but service wasn't very frequent and trains weren't as efficient. By 2006 commuter ridership within İzmir was at its all time lowest with only 98,000 boardings that year. This followed a steady decrease in ridership since the 1990s. In order to revive commuter service in the city, the State Railways executed a complete overhaul of their two lines within the city. On 23 July 2006 the State Railways temporarily suspended all rail service into İzmir. Regional and intercity trains would terminate at Çiğli in the north and Gaziemir in the south.

During this time, the 24 existing commuter stations were rebuilt and 5 new stations were added. 15 new bus transfer terminals were added to integrate commuter service with the city wide bus service ESHOT. All grade crossings were converted to overpasses or underpasses with the exception of 7 crossings that were operational when service began. Today, only 3 remain and will be removed in the near future. Two railway tunnels were built in Karşıyaka and Şirinyer with a total of 4 underground stations and the railway's former right of way were converted into parks. Tracks were relaid with cement ties and signalization was upgraded to a central control station at Alsancak. Turnstiles were added at stations to integrate them with the city wide smartcard, Kentkart. A new maintenance facility was opened in Çiğli as well as a small yard was opened in Cumaovası for the trains. Works on the southern line finished in mid-2009 and regional service was restored to Basmane station. Works on the Northern Line was finished in Spring 2010 and service was restored on 1 May 2010.

Service

Currently, İZBAN operates 164 daily trains in both directions between Cumaovası and Aliağa. The entire line between Cumaovası and Aliağa are owned by the Turkish State Railways. There are also bus terminals integrated with several new stations. These stations are: Halkapınar, Şirinyer, Semt Garajı, Esbaş, Sarnıç and Cumaovası on the Southern Line, Mavişehir, Çiğli, Egekent 2, Hatundere, Biçerova, Menemen and Ulukent on the Northern Line.

Ridership

İZBAN is by far the busiest commuter railroad in Turkey, carrying more passengers than the rest of Turkey's other commuter railroads combined. The average daily ridership is about 100,000. In its first month, İZBAN carried about 2,000 passengers daily, this grew to 40,000 by the end of December and doubled to 80,000 by February. With the opening of the rail-bus transfers on the Northern Line, daily ridership has increased to 100,000. This is expected to rise to 140,000 by April. İZBAN, being only 6 month old has carried more than 1.6 million passengers since its opening on August 30, 2010, making it one of the worlds fastest growing commuter railroads. Below is a list of the top 10 busiest stations on the system as of September, 2011.

Cumaovası-Torbalı

Currently, İZBAN plans on extending its line 30 km south of Cumaovası to Torbalı after the line opens to Aliağa. This is planned to upgrade 4 existing stations: Tekeli, Pancar, Tepeköy and Torbalı. Also 3 more overpasses for motorways will be built. On March 6, 2011, the project was approved by the ministry of transport and the Prime Minister of Turkey.

Aliağa-Bergama / Torbalı-Selçuk

After the Torbalı extension is finished, İZBAN plans to extend the line 55 km north of Aliağa to Bergama and 32 km south of Torbalı to Selçuk. The goal of this project is to link the ancient cities of Pergamon and Ephesus with İzmir by rail.

Menemen-Manisa

An extension to Manisa is planned and construction is expected to begin towards the end of 2011. This would mean the upgrading of several stations (Emiralem, Ayvacık, Muradiye, Horozköy) and a major upgrade of the Manisa Railway Station, as well as adding a few new stations to serve all villages near the line(Yahşelli, Göktepe). Together with this, the existing single track line, would be made double track and electrified with 25 kV AC overhead wire.