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Ayran Tunnel
Overview
Other name(s)Amanus Tunnel
Line Adana–Aleppo railway
LocationBetween Bahçe and Fevzipaşa, Turkey
StatusOperating
System Turkish State Railways
Crosses Nur Mountains, near the Bahçe Pass
Operation
Work begun1908
Opened1917 [1]
Owner Turkish State Railways
Operator TCDD Taşımacılık
Körfez Ulaştırma
Omsan
Technical
Design engineer Heinrich August Meissner
Length4,905 m (16,093 ft)
No. of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrified 25 kV AC, 15 Hz
Operating speed40 km/h (25 mph) [2]
Route map
km
Adana-Aleppo railway
to Adana
0
Bahçe
D400-TR.svg D.400
Bahçeşehir
Nurdağı Tunnel
Fevzipaşa-Kurtalan railway
to Kurtalan
Nurdağı
Ayran Tunnel
Fevzipaşa
Adana-Aleppo railway
to İslahiye

The Ayran Tunnel ( Turkish: Ayran Tüneli), also known as the Amanus Tunnel ( Turkish: Amanus Tüneli) or Bahçe Tunnel ( Turkish: Bahçe Tüneli), is a 4,905 m (16,093 ft) long railway tunnel in southern Turkey. It carries the Adana-Aleppo railway through the Nur Mountains, at the eastern end of the Amanian Gate. Built by the Baghdad Railway between 1908 and 1917, the tunnel is currently owned by the Turkish State Railways. [1] The tunnel begins just east of Bahçe and ends just north of Fevzipaşa.

Because the original alignment of the railway head south to Aleppo, all trains heading to eastern Turkey must reverse at Fevzipaşa. Due to the steep geography of the junction, no wyes or loops can be constructed, resulting in a bottle-neck along Turkey's busiest freight corridor. To circumvent this problem, a new tunnel is under construction. While the Ayran Tunnel heads south from Bahçe, the Nurdağ Tunnel will head east and connect directly to the Fevzipaşa-Kurtalan railway. [3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Baghdad Railway". trainsofturkey.com. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Türkiye'nin en uzun demiryolu tüneli inşaa ediliyor". tr.railwayturkey.org (in Turkish). 29 January 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Mersin-Adana-Gaziantep Hızlı Tren Projesi". tcdd.gov.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 5 May 2023.