Haydarpaşa restoration to conclude next year: Minister

ISTANBUL

Ongoing restoration works in the historic Haydarpaşa Train Station, damaged in a fire 13 years ago, will be completed by 2024, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has announced.

The restoration works are continuing meticulously, keeping the historical texture of the station intact, and the restoration process will conclude by 2024, Uraloğlu said on July 13 while on a visit to the Haydarpaşa train station to examine the ongoing works.

The station will be a center of attraction for both local and foreign tourists, Uraloğlu added.

“The restoration of the roof, which suffered the most damage, was restored and completed in three years. In the part of the building consisting of two adjacent towers, 11 steel roof trusses were restored according to the original state. The old steel trusses, brick walls and roof wooden materials damaged in the fire were also repaired. Water and heat insulation applications were made, while copper, lead and slate rooftop coverings and roof gutters were renewed in accordance with the original.”

“The plaster repair and paint types of the passenger waiting hall on the ground floor, which was destroyed by the fire, were made in accordance with the original. In order not to damage the historical texture, all kinds of residues on the walls were cleaned, and the surface was reinforced. A workshop was set up for the exterior stained-glass windows damaged in the fire, and they were repaired and assembled very carefully under supervision.”

The minister also pointed out that the historic clock, the symbol of the landmark station, was also replaced.

Being one of the most significant structures from an architectural and historical perspective, Haydarpaşa Train Station was built between 1906 and 1908 in accordance with designs created by German architects Otto Ritter and Helmut Cuno. The station had long functioned as the starting point for trains traveling to Anatolia.

The station sustained significant damage after a fire broke out in 2010, which caused the roof to collapse completely.

Numerous artifacts from the late Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman eras have also been uncovered in and around the station area, where archaeological excavation works have also been underway.