High-Speed Trains. They're usually an expensive way to get around,
with the ticket prices needing to cover the high operating costs to run a good service. Well today,
I've found the world's CHEAPEST high-speed train - tickets costing just €3! So join me,
as we ride up to 250km/h, and see what it's like to travel on the cheapest EVER high-speed train.
Hello, and welcome back to another video. Today I'm here in Eskişehir in Turkey,
and I'm going to be travelling on-board the Turkish Railways YHT high-speed train
service over to Ankara. For this journey I'm going to be on one of their CAF units, which
is the older type of train, and I'm going to be travelling in Ekonomi or Second Class. Let's go!
Welcome to Eskişehir in the Central Anatolian region of Turkey,
and a key station on the country's rail network.
This is actually the old station building in the city, and isn't it incredible?
Sadly, this 1950s construction is no longer in use.
The recently opened new station building is just a minute away,
though personally I feel this construction is far less grand than its historic counterpart.
Prior to accessing the station, you must first pass a security checkpoint,
though this doesn't take very long, and yes - you can still bring your liquids.
Once through, there's a shop that sells water and socks, among other things.
There's also a small café here.
The majority of the facilities here in Eskişehir are located beneath ground,
with escalators and lifts used to access this area.
Some seats can be found against the wall, but honestly there's not a lot to see here,
except for a few souvenir shops and places to get some food.
At one end of the station, you can also find some paid toilets,
and finally a few waiting rooms can be found in the station too.
But before we board today's incredibly cheap high-speed train,
let's look at the history of railways in Eskişehir.
The station here first opened in 1892, opened by the Central
Anatolian railway company as part of its İstanbul to Ankara route.
From this point, the city became a major junction, with the opening of the line to Konya.
However, after the introduction of the new high-speed railway lines, the station
was slightly relocated, with a modern design to serve the new trains and increased traffic flow.
Fifteen minutes prior to departure, access to the platform is opened.
Instead of a ticket check before boarding, you can simply show your ID card (such as
a passport), where your ticket will be found in the database.
Once this is done, it's time to head up to the platform.
Our train isn't here yet, as it's running a little bit late. Not to worry though,
this is a perfect chance to look around the new station.
Eskişehir has a total of ten tracks.
Four of these serve the classic trains, consisting of local services to Kütahya
and Afyon, as well as mainline 'Anahat' routes across the country by day and night.
The remaining six are dedicated to the high-speed network.
Of these, four are used for passenger traffic,
with two more theoretically being used for passing trains.
However, in reality these are just used to store trains. All trains are operated by TCDD,
the national railway company of Turkey.
As for facilities, there's nothing much up here. But thankfully, my train is arriving now.
This is one of Turkey's YHT trains,
which stands for Yüksek Hızlı Tren (literally, high-speed train).
The fleet of 12 trains were built from 2007, by CAF in Spain.
And as you can see, they closely resemble some of the high-speed trains used in Spain too.
I love these screens, which show information about the journey,
as well as a nice diagram of the carriage. It's not much, but I thought this was a
nice touch. I'll be travelling in Coach 4 today, one of the Ekonomi Class carriages.
And here, we find the first problem with today's train - before we've even boarded!
Each carriage only has a single door,
and combined with the high-floor, this really slows down boarding.
Once nobody else was getting off, I climbed on-board,
where I quite literally ran into the next problem.
Now I promise we'll get to some of the positives later,
as I show you just what you get for your money on this cheap high-speed train.
But for now, I'm currently being pushed around by luggage,
which itself is blocking everyone else who needs to get off.
We'll have a better look at the cause of this mess later,
but for now I've sped up the footage so you don't have to suffer too.
After two minutes of baggage gymnastics, I finally reach my seat, 12A, a rear-facing window seat.
Today's route sees us travelling east along the İstanbul to Ankara
high-speed line. Along the way, we will pass the high-speed junction at Polatlı,
before riding alongside Ankara's commuter trains from Eryaman. This trip is scheduled
to take one hour and 29 minutes to cover the 245 kilometres, or about 152 miles.
We end up departing Eskişehir about twelve minutes late,
no doubt partly thanks to the slow boarding process.
Pretty much immediately after departure, we enter a tunnel.
Though it's not long before we start picking up speed.
These trains are capable of 250km/h (155mph), a speed at which we will spend most of the journey.
So now we're on the move, let's take a look around the seat.
As I couldn't show you earlier,
Ekonomi Class is in a 2+2 seating layout, with a few tables per carriage.
The seats have a cool blue design, which I think is really nice.
As for comfort, the seats are fairly average. There's not that much padding,
but it's not too bad, and the ergonomics were good at least.
What I didn't understand was the presence of this weird flap,
do tell me in the comments if you know what it's for.
Between every seat, you can find a folding armrest, and whilst well sized, it was very hard.
The legroom provided on these trains is actually pretty good,
especially when you consider this is Ekonomi Class.
You can also find a folding footrest, attached to the seat in front.
Above this, you can find a small storage net,
but we'll look at the luggage situation a little later on. Next to this, you can find a small bin.
All seats are fitted with recline,
activated by pushing this button and sliding the seat base forward.
The actual amount of recline is very generous too,
but be warned that this will impede on your own legroom.
There's also a seatback table - and this is very well sized.
It features a folding cupholder too.
Most of our high-speed journey is spent closely following the original İstanbul to Ankara route,
which fully opened over a hundred years prior.
Of course its contemporary counterpart is a lot straighter, therefore faster. Some say the
construction of railways in the region were paid by the mile, and looking at this I'd believe it!
Above us now is the Mehmetçik monument, and an accompanying museum which serves as a memorial
of the Battle of Sakarya, a historic fight that took place 100 years ago.
We're now on the approach to the city of Polatlı, as we arrive into Polatlı YHT station.
The station serves only high-speed trains, as the name implies. Sadly,
it's not very near the centre, with even the city's airport having a better location!
Admittedly, this small airport has long since been abandoned.
From Polatlı, our journey across the plains of Central Anatolia continues,
as we once again build up speed.
As you probably noticed a spectacular sunset is on display, but don't be
fooled by this warm appearance. This video was filmed in February,
where the average temperature is often only a little more than 0°C (32°F).
If this light is too bright for you however, there is an adjustable window blind.
Mine was jammed though, so...try not to hit any fellow passengers,
who just so happen to be resting their head on the window.
Above the window, there's a pair of folding coathooks.
And above your seat, you can find an individual reading light, though this was loose.
On most trains I ride, the window blind is easy to move,
and the reading lights don't move. But I guess that's just not the case here.
Beneath your seat you will find what is possibly the goofiest looking charging
sockets you'll ever see on a train. This box is absolutely massive! Anyway,
each seat gets a single European style power socket, with a pair of USB sockets on top.
Beside each seat, you can find the on-board radio system. This features a decent amount
of channels, but unfortunately none of them actually worked.
The train also advertises that it features free WiFi,
however it required a ticket number, and for some reason mine wasn't working.
I really don't understand why train companies do this, as whilst I'm no expert,
it really doesn't look like there's anyone here to steal the connection.
Well as we're fast approaching the Turkish capital, I think it's time
to have a look around the rest of the train.
Five of the train's six carriages are Ekonomi Class,
with the remaining carriage being Business Class.
Of course, if you do want to move around the train,
then you'll need to climb over various pieces of luggage.
Even the wheelchair areas aren't safe from the mountains of bags.
This is despite the train having multiple luggage stacks in every carriage.
There's even overhead luggage racks throughout the whole train, bizarrely with closing doors,
something I've never seen on a train before. Maybe people just don't even know this space is here?
Personally though, I think this level of unstowed luggage is downright dangerous,
and I dread to think what would happen in an emergency evacuation.
Back to our train then. Here in coach 2 is the café area,
featuring some bar stools, and a pair of rather sad looking tables.
At the time of filming, they were only selling snacks and drinks here,
but if that's changed then please let me know in the comments!
This is the Business Class carriage, in a 2+1 seating layout, with comfortable leather seating.
Business Class often sells out quickly, so book ahead if you want to travel in extra comfort.
Now time to check out the toilets. Each carriage has one or two toilets,
with a wheelchair accessible toilet located in coach 2.
Overall, this wasn't in a great condition,
with a lot of paper lying around, as well as seeming quite dirty.
Thankfully, the soap and water were both working fine...
...though the tap was very loose.
As a rather novel feature for westerners, these trains are equipped with a bidet function.
But if you don't want to use this, then toilet paper is an option as well.
Following more running at near our top-speed, we're now entering the suburbs of Ankara.
This requires us to slow down, as the high-speed track finishes
just outside of the city, the route ahead running alongside local trains.
Ankara's commuter rail network is called Başkentray, which literally translates
as Capitalrail, acknowledging the city's status.
Our first station in the city is Eryaman YHT, at the western extreme of Ankara. This serves as an
interchange from high-speed trains to commuter trains, as well as various local bus routes.
So you're probably wondering what crazy hacks I used to get this fantastic price, right?
Well, the answer is: NONE!
My one-way ticket cost 45 Turkish Lira, which includes a 15% youth discount. This amount of
discount is also available if you buy a return ticket, meaning anyone can access this price!
Due to the economic situation in Turkey,
and its eye-wateringly high inflation rates, the fares have since nearly doubled.
But I'm sure I won't be alone in thinking that this is still fantastic value for money,
even if the train isn't quite perfect.
As seems to be the done thing on Turkish trains,
most of the passengers are already stood up waiting to get off,
a good 5 or 10 minutes before we'll arrive. It's not going to make the train any faster...
Eventually though, we do arrive at Ankara, now with a delay of 15 minutes.
Overall, this was a reasonable experience at an unbeatable price.
However, these trains are in desperate need of refurbishment, as the lack
of luggage space is inconvenient at best, and dangerous at worst.
So whilst this is the cheapest high-speed train in the world, I wouldn't say it's the most luxurious.
That accolade belongs to another Turkish YHT, specifically its
luxurious VIP compartments. And you can watch that video by clicking on screen now.