TEHRAN - ISTANBUL - Trans-Asia-Express - train

nltrainer
Traveller
1334 comments

to enter Iran this way you must have a prearranged full visa. Only when landing by air at the airport in THR many nations=not all!!-can get a visa on the spot if you pay enough EUR. Iran very, very often changes its visa-rules for specific nations due to politics etc. Always be very well informed before even trying.

anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments

Hi,
according to latest information the train schedule Ankara-Teheran has been changed: Departures from Ankara are on Friday, 20.20hrs (instead of Wednesday, official english language schedule on tcdd.gov.tr etc. notwithstanding).
We are currently trying to book on the train from Germany which turns out to be rather tedious.
Thanks to the friendly assistance of a turkish run travel agency that contacted the information line given in the TCDD website (at this moment only an answering machine in Turkish...) an unfriendly lady on the other end told us to g.damn use the online booking mechanism. Unfortunately the online booking list of connections does not show the TAE to Teheran.
So far our efforts were of no avail, since our e-mails were not answered, direct phone information was inconsistent and
travel agencies here are not really interested in this sort of thing (who wonders - too little reward for too much work).

Does anyone know better?
We'll keep trying.
AB

Flo
Traveller
10723 comments

Hi!

Have a look at the excellent [ux]https://rail.shop/iran[/ux] website. :)


Flo 8)

anonymous
Traveller
2467 comments

... thanks for the really valuable hint.
Actually we are thinking to do the trip in reverse from Tehran to Ankara.
(Yet I wonder what's with the train schedules: did they (really) change it in Turkey without changing the its complement?)
AB

kalinka
Traveller
28 comments

Hi,
we´d like to travel from Germany to Tehran and back in August and I have no Information that the TAE will start on friday.
Mr. Heger (iranrail.com) told me the same. Where did you get these informations? May be you have a look at the german forum part and we kann write about our current informations in german.
Karin

Peter
Traveller
9331 comments

Hi.
The train starts on Wednesday morning from Ankara. See information given here: [u]https://rail.cc/en/train/istanbul-to-tehran[/u]
Peter :)

iranrail
Traveller
4 comments

Departure in Ankara is at 10.25 (morning) on Wednesdays, arrival in Tehran at 20.40 on Fridays but expect delays even of hours which are frequent on the international train.
The price for the Ankara - Tehran train per person is : 33,28 Euro + Couchette per person 9.90 Euro = Total per person 43,18 Euro
It can be booked up to 2 month prior to departure.

Here ([ux]http://bahnforum.info/index.php?ind=reviews&op=entry_view&iden=1349[/ux]) is my travel report in German from this trip in 2011 (starting from Istanbul).

kalinka
Traveller
28 comments

Thanks a lot for your informations and your wonderful travel report!
I´m looking forward to our trip to teheran in summer :D .
Best regards

iranrail
Traveller
4 comments

Today we received the new timetables from RAJA for the Noruz (Persian New Year) period.

Between March 16 and April 4, 2014 (Persian New Year Period) the Tehran-Ankara (and v.v.) train will travel twice a week.

Times are:

Dep. Tehran 22.35 on Saturdays and Wednesdays Arr. Ankara 8.30 Tuesdays and Saturdays

Dep. Ankara 10.25 on Saturdays and Wednesdays Arr. Tehran 20.15 Tuesdays and Saturdays

The Tabriz - Van trains runs as usual:

Dep. Tabriz 22.30 on Mondays, Arr. Van next day 8.30
Dep. Van 20.00 on Tuesdays, Arr. Tabriz next day 6.30

iranrail
Traveller
4 comments

Information update:

The Saturday departure of Trans-Asia-Express during Noruz 1393 (Persian New Year) will not be available as Turkish Railways did not accept a second weekly train as proposed by Iranian Railways. There will be only the Wedensday departure as usual.

From Tehran to Ankara all tickets have been sold out for the departures on March 12, 19 and 26 so earliest available departures are in April 2014. Some local tourist agencies in Tehran accept waiting list for March, with a tiny hope for a seat to be freed. All other trips must be done by bus or plane.

Van-Tabriz and v.v. is available as usual, but also on this train in the Iran-Turkey direction all seats for dates during March have been sold out.

[quote]Today we received the new timetables from RAJA for the Noruz (Persian New Year) period.

Between March 16 and April 4, 2014 (Persian New Year Period) the Tehran-Ankara (and v.v.) train will travel twice a week.

Times are:

Dep. Tehran 22.35 on Saturdays and Wednesdays Arr. Ankara 8.30 Tuesdays and Saturdays

Dep. Ankara 10.25 on Saturdays and Wednesdays Arr. Tehran 20.15 Tuesdays and Saturdays

The Tabriz - Van trains runs as usual:

Dep. Tabriz 22.30 on Mondays, Arr. Van next day 8.30
Dep. Van 20.00 on Tuesdays, Arr. Tabriz next day 6.30[/quote]

iranrail
Traveller
4 comments

Update: departure of Trans Asia Express from Tehran is now at 21.50 (always on Wednesdays)

CesarAli
Traveller
37 comments

Another update is that. There is a possibility that train goes to pendik, 25 km outside Istanbul, and if were lucky it starts from May and if we are unlucky august.

However you can take train to eskisher or arifiye and then bus, another route is to take the train to bursa and then the ferry towards istanbul :)

user#133950
Traveller
2 comments

Are border open now for train from Ankara to Tehran ?