Train, inter-city bus services to resume soon

ISTANBUL

Tickets for the high-speed train were offered for sale on May 25 ahead of the resumption of services later this week, while major intercity bus companies have announced the recommencement of their services in early June.

Turkey has been gradually easing the measures initially introduced to arrest the spread of the coronavirus, and as part of these efforts the railway authority plans to relaunch the high-speed train services between Ankara and Istanbul, the western province of Eskişehir and the Central Anatolian province of Konya as of May 28.

A total of 16 services are scheduled daily between those cities and tickets were on sale on May 25.

Train tickets can be purchased via the mobile application, website, or from ticket offices.

Maintaining the social distancing rules, the trains will operate with 50 percent capacity and passengers will sit leaving a seat in a row empty.

People need to prove that they are clear for travel between cities.

The citizens have to use a special code they can obtain through an application developed by the Health Ministry to show they are not sick or carrying the virus and be able to board trains to buy a ticket.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu said that the people aged over 65 or under 20 will be required to have travel permits as they are facing restrictions going outside.

Meanwhile, the country’s four major couch companies have announced that they are preparing to resume their intercity bus services starting June 4.

The country’s Interior Ministry announced on May 19 that the travel ban in 15 major cities had been extended for 15 more days due to the outbreak.

In a statement, the ministry said the travel ban would continue between May 20 and June 3 and those who do not comply with the travel restrictions will be handed administrative fines.

Earlier in April, Turkey imposed the country’s first travel ban across 31 provinces to stem the spread of the virus and later lifted some of them.

The Health Ministry’s mobile application, called HES, will be used to track inter-city travel.