Hello everyone, I come here today with a route suggestion off the beaten path. Last year I had the opportunity to visit Istanbul in Turkey and ride the intercontinental railway tunnel under the Bosphorus. I fell in love with the newly opened commuter rail route and thought it would make an interesting add-on for Train Sim World 2! Length-wise it is quite doable in TSW 2 is 47.6 miles (51.9) if you include the two branch routes to the major terminal stations. There are a total of 43 stations on the route, including 3 underground stations. If the two brnach lines are included then the station total goes up to 49. The route is a triple-track railway with sections going up to four or more tracks. Only the underground section is double-track. Marmaray commuter trains use the two local tracks, while intercity and high-speed rail use the third express track. The route is shared with YHT (Yüksek Hizli Tren) high-speed trains running from Istanbul to Ankara or Konya along with an overnight intercity train to Ankara. The whole route was built to connect Istanbul's two major railways running along the its south shore. These two railways terminated at Sirkeci Terminal on the European side and Haydarpasa Terminal on the Asian side. Both of these terminals have significant historical value. Sirkeci station was the eastern terminus of the legendary Orient Express while Haydarpasa was the western terminus of the famous Istanbul-Baghdad railway. Haydarpasa station sits on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus and was built in 1910. Sirkeci station is located just north of the Topkapi Palace on the south side of the Golden Horn. The Marmaray route bypasses both stations, however an underground station was built at Sirkeci to connect to the two. The two terminals will be used for inter-city and high-speed passenger service in the near future, as they are currently closed for renovation. The branch to Sirkeci diverges off the Marmaray route after Kazlicesme (about 3.7 miles west of Sirkeci) and winds its way through the historic peninsula of the city. Haydarpasa branches off from the route just east of the station itself, past the station yards. Out of the 43 stations on the Marmaray route, 6 of them are also served by inter-city and high-speed rail. These 6 stations have platforms serving the third express track. The trains that use the route are as follows: - E 32000 series EMUs, built by Hyundai-Rotem, used for Marmaray commuter service. These come in variants of 5 and 10-car units. - E 65000 series EMUs, built by CAF, used for high-speed rail service between Istanbul and Ankara/Konya. They entered service in 2009. - E 80000 series EMUs, built by Siemens as part of their Velaro series, used for high-speed rail service between Istanbul and Ankara/Konya. They entered service in 2016. - E 68000 series electric locomotives, built by Hyundai-Rotem, used for inter-city rail and freight rail on the line. - TVS2000 passenger cars used on the "Ankara Express" overnight train. I would personally love to see this route implemented and be able to drive trains in one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.
