ðZBAN, previously known as Egeray, is a commuter rail system serving ðzmir and its metropolitan area. Averaging a daily ridership of 185,000 passengers, it is the busiest commuter rail system in Turkey, slightly ahead of the Marmaray commuter line in Istanbul. ðZBAN is a portmanteau of the words "ðzmir" and "Banliyö" (suburb in Turkish).
Established in 2007 and began operations in 2010, ðZBAN was formed to revive old commuter rail in ðzmir. , ðZBAN operates a long system, with 41 stations.
ðZBAN A.à Â., founded in 2006, operates the railway and is owned 50% by the Turkish State Railways and 50% by the ðzmir Metropolitan Municipality. ðZBAN is a part of the municipality's transportation master plan.
ðZBAN currently has four routes; The AliaÃÂa-Cumaovasñ, serving the central districts of the city and into AliaÃÂa, The Menemen-Tepeköy, serving the central districts of the city, of Menderes and the southern town of Torbalñ. Another line is the Tepeköy-Selçuk which connects the town of Torbalñ with the town of Selçuk. The ÃÂiÃÂli-Halkapñnar line only runs during rush hours on weekends in order to reduce pressure on The AliaÃÂa-Cumaovasñ and The Menemen-Tepeköy lines. Apart from The Tepeköy-Selçuk line, all lines run through the central districts providing 5-8 trains per hour in the central district.
ðZBAN A.à Â. was jointly created on 10 January 2007 by the ðzmir Municipality and the Turkish State Railways to operate commuter service within the city. Previously commuter service was operated by the State Railways but service wasn't very frequent and trains weren't as efficient. By 2006 commuter ridership within ðzmir was at its all time lowest with only 98,000 boardings that year. This followed a steady decrease in ridership since the 1990s. In order to revive commuter service in the city, the State Railways executed a complete overhaul of their two lines within the city. On 23 July 2006 the State Railways temporarily suspended all rail service into ðzmir. Regional and intercity trains would terminate at ÃÂiÃÂli in the north and Gaziemir in the south.
During this time, the 24 existing commuter stations were rebuilt and 5 new stations were added. New bus transfer terminals were added to integrate commuter service with the citywide bus service ESHOT. All grade crossings were converted to overpasses or underpasses with the exception of 7 crossings that were operational when service began. Today, only 3 remain and will be removed in the near future. Two railway tunnels were built in Karà Âñyaka and à Âirinyer with a total of 4 underground stations and the railway's former right of way were converted into parks. Tracks were relaid with cement ties and signalization was upgraded to a central control station at Alsancak. Turnstiles were added at stations to integrate them with the citywide smartcard, ðzmirimKart. A new maintenance facility was opened in ÃÂiÃÂli as well as a small yard was opened in Cumaovasñ for the trains.
All of the tracks are owned by the Turkish State Railways. There is a transfer from Halkapñnar and Hilal stations to M1 Metro Line ; from ÃÂiÃÂli, Alaybey, Halkapñnar and Alsancak stations to Tram ðzmir network ; from AliaÃÂa, Biçerova, Hatundere, Menemen, Ulukent, Egekent, ÃÂiÃÂli, Mavià Âehir, Turan, Bayraklñ, Salhane, Halkapñnar, Alsancak, Kemer, à Âirinyer, Koà Âu, ðnkñlap, Semt Garajñ, Esbaà Â, Gaziemir, Sarnñç, Adnan Menderes Havalimanñ, Cumaovasñ, Tekeli, Pancar, Kuà Âçuburun, Torbalñ, Tepeköy, SaÃÂlñk and Belevi stations to ESHOT buses. It is possible to transfer to mainline trains and regional trains operated by TCDD Taà Âñmacñlñk from Selçuk, SaÃÂlñk, Tepeköy, Torbalñ, Pancar, Cumaovasñ, Adnan Menderes Havalimanñ, Gaziemir, ÃÂiÃÂli and Menemen stations.
Passengers need to have ðzmirim Kart to use ðZBAN which allows for transfer between all inner-city transport options. Starting in 2018, passengers need to pay for the amount of km they travelled. This was done due to the length of the line being much longer compared to other public transport options in ðzmir.
ðZBAN is one of the busiest commuter railroads in Turkey, reaching 1,000,000,000 total passengers carried in 2024. ðZBAN carried 88,650,000 passengers in 2023 making the average daily ridership is about 250,000. This is more than twice the size of the average daily ridership in 2013 which was about 100,000.
In 2022, the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality announced that work on two infill stations would begin in 2023. The stations will be called Gürçeà Âme, located between à Âirinyer and Kemer, and Katip ÃÂelebi University, located between Egekent and Ulukent.
ðZBAN plans to extend the line 55 km north from AliaÃÂa to Bergama. The goal of this project is to link the ancient cities of Pergamon and Ephesus with ðzmir by rail.
An extension to Manisa was planned and construction was expected to begin towards the end of 2011. This would mean the upgrading of several stations (Emiralem, Ayvacñk, Muradiye, Horozköy) and a major upgrade of the Manisa Railway Station, as well as adding a few new stations to serve all villages near the line (Yahà Âelli, Göktepe). Together with this, the existing single track line, would be made double track and electrified with 25 kV AC overhead wire.