Until recently trains constituted a slower alternative to travelling by bus or car. However with the new high-speed trains (Yüksek Hızlı Treni, abbreviated YHT) all that have changed, journey time from Ankara have been massively reduced to just 1:40 h, down from almost ten hours (in pure theory, though, as Turkish State Railways never offered passenger trains between Ankara and Konya before, due to the absurdly long de-tours across the country the rail network formerly took between these two neighbouring cities)! Although not offering the charm of travelling while enjoying the landscapes slowly changing on the other side of the window, these new trains makes it much more practical to reach Konya. As of now there are fours trains every day, however more depatures will be added in the near future.
From Istanbul, there are still two nightly sleeper services (via İzmit, Eskişehir-Enveriye station, Kütahya, and Afyon), the Meram Express departing at 7:40PM from Haydarpaşa station and arriving in Konya just before 9AM the following day. İçanadolu Mavi Treni departs later in the evening at 11:50PM and is a bit slower, not arriving until afternoon to make its brief stop-over on its way to Adana (via Karaman). Fares starts at 35 TL for second class, 77 TL for first class sleepers.
The Konya railway station is located in the suburb of Meram, some distance from the centre; it is easy enough to take a taxi from the station to the centre, but surprisingly some of the taxi drivers are not familiar with the locations of the main hotels. Alternatively it is about 30?40 minutes' walk to the city centre, given you don't have heavy backpacks.
As all the rail works is not finished yet, expect (temporary) cancellations of many inter-city train services. There is usually a replacement bus waiting but there will be delays. Always check with the Turkish State Railways .
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Konya
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Konya - updated May 2024
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Konya Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
