Eastern Express journey to restart in December

ANKARA

The Eastern Express, the 26-hour train journey between the capital Ankara and the eastern province of Kars, will restart in December, the country’s culture and tourism minister has said.

“The Eastern Express, [also known as the Eastern Express], which halted during the coronavirus pandemic, is set to be relaunched next month,” Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said in a conference in the eastern province of Erzincan.

“The Transportation Ministry has taken the train service into its agenda once again,” he said. “The touristic eastern express will restart.”

Starting from Ankara, the Eastern Express visits five Central Anatolian and eastern provinces - Kırıkkale, Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan and Erzurum - before arriving at Kars, one of Türkiye’s winter tourism hotspots.

According to ticket sale sites, the price of an economy class seat is 82.50 Turkish Liras ($4.4), while the price of a round trip ticket for traveling via a sleeping car starts from 2,000 liras ($107.4).

The minister highlighted that the Eastern Express will help the tourism economy to rise. “This year, the number of tourists surpassed the number seen in 2019, before the pandemic,” he said, adding that around 42 million tourists have brought some $35 billion to the country.

The target of the ministry is to “host 50 million tourists and earn some $44 billion at the end of the year.”