The ðstanbulâÂÂPythio railway is the main railway line in Eastern Thrace and is the Turkish State Railways trunk line to Europe. It was built in 1873 as part of the Chemins de fer Orientaux main line between ðstanbul and Belgrade. It is long. The line is an important freight corridor for the country.
The line starts in Istanbul Sirkeci station, almost next to the Golden Horn mouth. It then follows the Marmara seashore to exit the city, passing the Istanbul walls at Yedikule. It then goes through the suburb to Halkalñ, the current endpoint of the double track. From there, the line goes North for a few kilometres to go around a lake before resuming its course westward.
At ÃÂatalca, the line will start climbing at an average rate of 6â° to a 200m high point near the Kurfallñ station. It will then descend back to ÃÂerkezköy station. From there, the line will follow the Ergene River all the way until Uzunköprü station, at an average altitude of 50m.
From Uzunköprü station, the line will turn North West to reach the Meriç River where it will cross the current border to Greece to reach the Pythio station. The river crossing is done over a metallic bridge.
When the line opened, it fell entirely within the Ottoman Empire. However, after World War I, a new border was established between Greece and Turkey. The line from Pythio to Edirne fell within Greek territory, and only the ðstanbul-Demirköprü section still remained in Turkish territory. In 1971, the State railways built a new line from Pehlivanköy to the Bulgarian border at Kapñkule, bypassing Greek territory. The original line to Pythio is still used for connections to Greece.