The Ankara Metro is the rapid transit system serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey. At present, Ankara's rapid transit system consists of two metro lines – the Batıkent Metrosu and the new Keçiören Metrosu line opened in 2017, along with the light rail Ankaray line. The Ankaray, the M1 and M4 lines, together transported 104.1 million passengers in 2014. That corresponds to a ridership of approximately 289,155 per day. In February 2019 all the lines that used to run M1, M2 and M3 were merged to create one line, M1. The Kızılay to Atatürk Cultural Center link of M4 is not yet opened and remains under construction. Also, an additional line between Kuyubaşı and Esenboğa International Airport is in the planning stages and would make up the next phase of expansion of the metro.
History
Ankaray
The Ankaray, a light rail system was the first phase of the modern rapid transit network of the city. The Ankaray was constructed by a consortium headed by Siemens over a period of four years. It opened on 20 August 1996. The line runs between AŞTİ and Dikimevi, covering a distance of, of which is through tunnels. The line has 11 stations.
Ankara Metro
The Ankara Metro has been operating since 29 December 1997, with the opening of its first full metro line, M1, traveling between Kızılay, the city center, and Batıkent. The M2 line, operating from Kızılay, the city center, to Koru, opened 12 February 2014. The M3 line, which serves almost as an extension of the M1 line, operating from Batıkent to Törekent, opened a month later on 13 March 2014. For the first few years of operations on lines M2 and M3, both of them ran separately from the M1 line; since early 2019, the three lines are operated as one continuous service between Törekent and Koru. The M4 line, operating from Atatürk Cultural Center to Gazino, opened on 5 January 2017. In 2019 Turisk defense firm Aselsan began traction and control upgrades on the older Bombardier cars.
Operations
Lines
The following table lists the five metro lines currently in service on the Ankara Metro:
The track width on both subway lines is 1435 mm. Vehicles of the Canadian type Hawker H6 run on the M1. The trains in Ankara are a modification of the almost identical H6 trains that are used on the Toronto subway. The vehicles were manufactured by Bombardier until the early 1990s. The structure is made of riveted stainless steel and has a gray color. There is an orange stripe around the windows. There are four entrances on each side of each car. In the three-car units, the first and third cars are railcars, the middle car has no separate drive. The underground trains used on the Ankaray line were built by the Italian wagon manufacturer AnsaldoBreda in Naples in cooperation with Siemens. Only one of the three-car units has an engine, the other two cars are not driven. The cars are white with orange applications around the windows. The trains for the new subway lines under construction are being built by CRRC in China.
Network map
Rolling stock
Ankaray
Ankaray vehicles on the Ankaray line are Siemens-Adtranz-Ansaldobreda, S.P.A. M1, M2, and M3 trains, which have a top speed of , and are equipped with regenerative braking. The system is served by 11 trainsets. Each trainset comprises 3 sets of 2 cars paired together. Each pair of cars is long, with 60 seats, and can transport a maximum of 308 passengers; thus each trainset is approximately long and can transport 925 passengers per train. The current passenger volume capacity on the Ankaray line is 27,000 passengers per hour per direction.
Ankara Metro
The original vehicles used on the M1 line are Bombardier Transportation-built modified versions of the sixth-generation H-series trains used on the Toronto subway. The Toronto trains on which they were based on were built in 1986 by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation, a company later purchased by Bombardier. There are a total of 108 of these cars, which are usually configured as 18 six-car trainsets. The car's seats are made of rigid plastic, and are all arranged longitudinally. There are no forward- or rear-facing seats, and no seats at the front or rear of each car. In 2012, a large order of 324 subway cars from CRRC Zhuzhou was placed to supplement the fleet on line M1 and for use on the newer M2, M3 and M4 lines.
Future Service
Construction of the following metro lines are under construction or planned:
