Beneath our feet lies a marvel of modern engineering. We are standing at the Ankara YHT Garı. This isn’t just a train station. It’s a mixed-use commercial building. It houses a shopping mall, a five-star hotel, and commercial offices. Of course, it also functions as a concourse for YHT high-speed trains.
Ankara YHT Garı is also known as Ankara Yüksek Hızlı Tren Garı. ATG is another abbreviation you might hear. It stands proudly next to the original Ankara railway station. The Ankara YHT Garı was strategically built. It occupies the southern half of the land. This land once belonged to the Ankara station. Two platforms once served commuter trains here. Storage tracks also occupied this space.
The Ankara YHT Garı officially opened on October 29 2016. This date marked the 93rd anniversary. It celebrated the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. High-speed platforms are located underneath the Ankara YHT Garı.
The Turkish State Railways owns the Ankara YHT Garı. A private company operates it. This company is known as Ankara Tren Garı İşletmesi A.Ş. TCDD Taşımacılık uses the building. They use it for their ticket and information booths. A waiting area and a VIP lounge are also present. The building reaches a height of 30 meters. It has eight floors in total.
Construction of the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed railway line began in 2004. Plans for a new railway station emerged. This was part of a large-scale modernization effort. In 2005, the Turkish State Railways awarded a bid to construct the ATG terminal. The original plan envisioned a station encompassing the entire existing station area.
However, the Ankara city council’s decision faced criticism. Architects worried about the demolition of historic buildings. In 2008, the Ankara 16th District Court intervened. They overruled the city council. The project endangered historic structures.
The State Railways revised their plans. The new terminal would only encompass the two southernmost platforms. These platforms served commuter trains. The Başkentray project would replace them anyway. In 2012, a consortium won the bid for the revised station.
Construction commenced in December 2013. The station structure was completed by May 2016. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım attended the grand opening.
The Ankara YHT Garı was constructed in just two years. The “Ankara Tren Garı İşletmesi” company built it using a build-operate-transfer model. The Ankara YHT Garı is projected to serve 50000 passengers daily. That is about 15 million annually. There is a hotel with 134 rooms. A mall with 217 shops is there. A conference hall occupies the 8-story building. The AGT company operates the station. This excludes the train services. In 2036, the entire infrastructure will be handed over. It will go to the Turkish State Railways.
The Ankara YHT Garı terminal covers a total area of 194460 square meters. It includes the mall and the hotel. Three railway platforms and six tracks are available. Currently, only three YHT trains serve the Ankara YHT Garı in Ankara. Consider the Ankara YHT Garı not just as a station. It is a symbol of Turkey’s journey. It is a journey into the future.