The Ankara Metro (Turkish: Ankara Metrosu) is the rapid transit system serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey. At present, Ankara's rapid transit system consists of two metro lines – the Batıkent Metrosu (M1) and the new Keçiören Metrosu (M4) line opened in 2017, along with the Ankaray line.[2] The Ankaray, the M1 and M4 lines, together transported 104.1 million passengers in 2014.[1] That corresponds to a ridership of approximately 289,155 per day. In February 2019 all the lines that used to run M1, M2 and M3 were merged to create one line, M1.[3]
Ankara Metro
Overview
Native name
Ankara Metrosu
Locale
Transit type
Number of lines
3
Number of stations
57 (1 more under construction)
Daily ridership
470,182 (average, 2023)
Annual ridership
Ankaray 
: 43.2 million (2023)[1]
Metro : 127.8 million (2023)[1]
Total: 171 million (2023)[1]
Website
Operation
Began operation
1996 / 1997
Operator(s)
Electricity, Gas, Bus General Directorate (EGO)
Number of vehicles
432 (108 Bombardier, 324 CRRC)
(33 Hitachi)
Technical
System length
67.4 km (41.9 mi)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
750 V DC Third rail
System map
Beytepe
The Ankaray (from Turkish: Ankara ray, meaning Ankara rail), a rapid transit system (Turkish: Hafif Raylı,[4] though the line does operate as more of a "light metro" line) was the first phase of the modern rapid transit network of the city. The Ankaray was constructed by a consortium headed by Siemens over a period of four years (1992–96). It opened on 20 August 1996. The line runs between AŞTİ (Turkish: Ankara Şehirlerarası Terminal İşletmesi – Ankara Intercity Bus Terminal) and Dikimevi, covering a distance of 8.53 kilometres (5.30 mi), of which 6.68 kilometres (4.15 mi) is through tunnels.[5] The line has 11 stations.[5]
The Ankara Metro has been operating since 29 December 1997, with the opening of its first full metro line, M1, traveling between Kızılay, the city center, and Batıkent. The M2 line, operating from Kızılay, the city center, to Koru, opened 12 February 2014. The M3 line, which serves almost as an extension of the M1 line, operating from BatıkenttoTörekent, opened a month later on 13 March 2014. For the first few years of operations on lines M2 and M3, both of them ran separately from the M1 line; since early 2019, the three lines are operated as one continuous service (M1) between Törekent and Koru.[6]
The M4 line, operating from Atatürk Cultural Center to Gazino, opened on 5 January 2017.
In 2019 Turisk defense firm ASELSAN began traction and control upgrades on the older Bombardier cars.[7]
The following table lists the five metro lines (including the Ankaray line) currently in service on the Ankara Metro:
Line
Route
Opened
Length[8]
Stations[8]
Ankaray
Dikimevi ↔ AŞTİ
1996
8.53 km (5.30 mi)
11
M1
Kızılay ↔ Batıkent
1997
14.66 km (9.11 mi)
12
Kızılay ↔ Koru
2014 (as
)
16.59 km (10.31 mi)
12
Batıkent ↔ Törekent
2014 (as
)
15.36 km (9.54 mi)
12
M4
Kızılay ↔ Şehitler
2017
12.5 km (7.8 mi)
12
TOTAL:
67.4 km (41.9 mi)
57
The track width on both subway lines is 1435 mm (normal gauge).
Vehicles of the Canadian type Hawker H6 run on the M1. The trains in Ankara are a modification of the almost identical H6 trains that were used on the Toronto subway. The vehicles were manufactured by Bombardier until the early 1990s. The structure is made of riveted aluminum[10][circular reference] and has a gray color. There is an orange stripe around the windows. There are four entrances on each side of each car. In the three-car units, the first and third cars are railcars, the middle car has no separate drive.
The underground trains used on the Ankaray line were built by the Italian wagon manufacturer AnsaldoBreda in Naples in cooperation with Siemens. Only one of the three-car units has an engine (railcar), the other two cars are not driven (sidecar). The cars are white with orange applications around the windows.
The trains for the current lines and the new ones are built by CRRC in China. The new cars have many common features with old ones. Both cars have 4 entrances, and only the first and the third cars are railcars and the middle car is a sidecar in the three-car unit. Besides the old stock, the new stock has a separate space for the control panel, located at the front of the first and the third railcar.
Ankaray vehicles on the Ankaray line are Siemens-Adtranz-Ansaldobreda, S.P.A. (AnsaldoBreda) M1, M2, and M3 trains, which have a top speed of 80 km/h (50 mph) (operational speed: 38 km/h (24 mph)),[5] and are equipped with regenerative braking.
The system is served by 11 trainsets.[5] Each trainset comprises 3 sets of 2 cars paired together. Each pair of cars is 29-metre (95 ft) long, with 60 seats, and can transport a maximum of 308 passengers;[5] thus each trainset is approximately 90-metre (300 ft) long and can transport 925 passengers per train. The current passenger volume capacity on the Ankaray line is 27,000 passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD).[5]
The original vehicles used on the M1 line are Bombardier Transportation-built modified versions of the sixth-generation H-series trains used on the Toronto subway. The Toronto trains on which they were based on were built in 1986 by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), a company later purchased by Bombardier. There are a total of 108 of these cars, which are usually configured as 18 six-car trainsets. The car's seats are made of rigid plastic, and are all arranged longitudinally. There are no forward- or rear-facing seats, and no seats at the front or rear of each car.
In 2012, a large order of 324 subway cars from CRRC Zhuzhou was placed to supplement the fleet on line M1 and for use on the newer M2, M3 and M4 lines.[11]
Both Ankara Metro and Ankaray depend on Communications-based Train Control railway signalling system. In Ankaray, signals only show whenever there is a train or if a blockage exists or not. However, in Ankara Metro, signals are only activated by automatic control by specific rules.
Unlike other subways, Ankara Metro does not use green signal on normal operations. Only one fixed chunk in front of the train will become available which results in yellow signals at normal operation even more than one chunk is available. The strict rule of flashing (or blinking) yellow signal depends on these two conditions that must be met at the same time: The Metro arriving at the station or present at the station must be in standard operation mode and at least one chunk towards to forward direction must be free. Also, flashing yellow signals are only emitted on forward signals, preventing reverse direction movement in normal operation mode. If one of these conditions are not met (except Operation Mode), the signal will emit red light. While train will out of standard operation mode, the signals will return normal Communitacions-based Train Control rules or manual signal control. For green and yellow signals, there are 2 different variants; Flashing or static. Flashing signals means either automatic controlled route or manually set route in effect. Static signals are manually controlled or emitted from the control center, however.
Ankaray also uses red, yellow, and green signals. Red and green signals used for indicating is the chunk occupied or not. Unlike the Ankara metro, the yellow signal turns on when a rail change is going to be made.
Construction of the following metro lines are under construction or planned:
Line
Route
Length[8]
Stations[8]
Status
Ankaray
AŞTİ ↔ Söğütözü
0.78 km (0.48 mi)
1
Under Construction
Ankaray
Dikimevi ↔ Natoyolu
7.4 km (4.6 mi)
8
Planned
TOTAL:
11.48 km (7.13 mi)
12
