Haydarpaşa Garı, Istanbul‘s Teutonic pseudo-castlerailway station on the Asian shore of the Bosphoruswas the terminus for suburban trains and trains to and from Anatolia (Asian Turkey) for over a century.
A serious fire on 28 November 2010 destroyed the station’s roof and top floor, but the rest of the building was saved.
Haydarpaşa is currently closed. No trains depart, no ferries stop at its dock (Kadıköy is the nearest dock). The station’s future is still undetermined.
YHT high-speed trains now connect Istanbul with Ankara and Konya via Eskişehir. The Istanbul terminus is currently at Pendik, 24 km (15 miles) southeast of Haydarpaşa not far from Sabiha Gökçen Airport. More…
The Marmaray rail tunnel beneath the Bosphorus, opened late in 2013, takes you past Haydarpaşa 1.3 km (8/10 mile) to Ayrılık Çeşmesi, where you can board Metro trains to Asian Istanbul destinations.
Şehir Hatları and TurYol ferryboats from Eminönücross the Bosphorus frequently to Kadıköy, only a 10-minute walk from the station.
A Bit of History
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| The grand interior… |
The neoclassical Haydarpaşa Stationbuilding, a gift to the Sultan from Kaiser Wilhelm II, was built by the Anatolia-Baghdad Corporation between 1906 and 1908. Its foundation is 1100 wooden piles, each 21 meters (69 feet) long, driven into the mushy shore by steam hammer.
Haydarpaşa was an important link in the railway chain of the Kaiser’s Berlin-to-Baghdad railway scheme, part of the German Empire’s strategic Drang nach Osten (“Drive to the East”) during the later 19th century.
If you’re a train buff, take a ferry from Eminönü or Karaköy over to Kadıköy on the Asian shore, wander around, then board the next ferry back to Karaköy or Eminönü.
| Sirkeci Station |  |
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