Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie

Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie Osmanlı Anadolu Demiryolları
Anatolian railroads in 1910 (CFOA in Blue)
Reporting mark	CFOA
Locale	Central Anatolia, Ankara to Istanbul, with branches to Adapazari, Kutahya, and Konya
Dates of operation	1871–1927
Successor	TCDD
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Length	1,023 km (636 mi)
Headquarters	İstanbul

The Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie (Turkish: Osmanlı Anadolu Demiryolları, English: Anatolian Railway) was an Ottoman railway founded on October 4, 1888^[1]. The railway was headquartered in İstanbul.

The CFOA was the busiest railway in the Ottoman Empire and was one of the two railways operating into İstanbul, along with the Chemins de fer Orientaux. The Baghdad Railway (İstanbul-Aleppo-Baghdad) connected with the CFOA at Konya to allow rail transport from İstanbul to the Middle East, although the Baghdad railway wasn't completed until 1940. The CFOA serviced major cities such as İstanbul, İzmit, Adapazarı, Bilecik, Eskişehir, Ankara, Kütahya and Konya. The railway also operated the Port of Haydarpaşa and the Port of Derince^[1].

The railway was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Société du Chemin de fer Ottoman d'Anatolie, created on October 8, 1888 by the Deutsche Bank to operate the railway.

History

Ottoman Government Railways (1871-1888)

The Ottoman Government, under the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz, started building a 1,435 mm standard gauge on the Asian side of İstanbul, from Haydarpaşa to Pendik in 1871. The line was opened on September 22, 1872^[1]. The railway was extended to Gebze, which opened on January 1, 1873. In August 1873 the railway opened to İzmit. The railway was built to serve a populated area along the Marmara Sea. The railway was then to be extended to Ankara and Mesopotamia. The line proved difficult to manage so in 1880, 60% ownership of the line was transferred to a British company. A 52.1 km (32.4 mi) 1,067 mm narrow gauge extension of the railway was built to Adapazarı the same year. The company could not finance the extension of the line to Ankara, so the company formed a Anglo-American syndicate under the leadership of Sir Vincent Caillard to complete the line. The syndicate still could not pull up the money needed to complete the line, so the company withdrew^[1].

Chemins de Fer Ottoman d'Anatolie (1888-1927)

A steam locomotive made by J. A. Maffei, Germany for the Anatolian Railway.

With the construction of the line to Ankara put on hold, the Ottoman government looked for a new company to build the line. Georg von Siemens, the managing director of the Deutsche Bank was informed on the project, as well as Alfred Von Kaulla, who was in İstanbul to handle the export of the Mauser rifle to the Ottoman Army. After some tension, the Deutsche Bank won the concession to build the line. The original concession was 99 years, but later became 114 years to match the Baghdad Railway. The Deutsche Bank created a subsidiary company, Société du Chemin de fer Ottoman d'Anatolie that was incorporated on October 4, 1888 as the parent company of the railway^[1]. The CFOA subcontracted the building of the line to Philipp Holzmann. The CFOA started building the line to Ankara in May, 1889. The CFOA completed the line to Arifye in 1890 and opened it on September 1, 1891. The line was opened to Ankara on December 31, 1892. In 1893 the Ottoman government granted the CFOA with a concession to build a line from Eskişehir to Konya. The line was to branch from the İstanbul-Ankara main line at Eskişehir, to Alayunt, Afyon, Akşehir and Konya. A branch line from Alayunt to Kütahya was also to be built. The line was opened to Alayunt and Kütahya on December 30, 1894. The CFOA opened the line to Afyon on August 4, 1895 and Konya on July 25, 1896. In 1899, the CFOA was granted another concession to build a line to Bolu and later İsmetpaşa. The CFOA started construction and on November 1, 1899 opened a 3.2 km (2.0 mi) branch line from Arifye to Adapazarı. However, the tracks never reached Bolu. In 1904 the Baghdad Railway was incorporated to continue the line from Konya, through Adana and Aleppo to Baghdad. This would provide a direct rail link between İstanbul and Baghdad^[2]. However World War I halted the construction of the line. The Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers against the Allied Powers. The CFOA played a big role, carrying supplies from İstanbul to Palestine and Mesopotamia. The War ended on November 11, 1918 with the Central Powers losing and the Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The Allies moved in to Anatolia and took control over the CFOA. Control of the CFOA was given to the British Army. The Treaty of Sèvres lead to the outbreak of the Turkish War of Independence in 1919. The Turkish Nationalists fought against the British and eventually they gained control of a portion of the railway. The CFOA was under full Turkish control by September 1923 and the war ended a month later. Despite being in control, the Turkish government was not the legal owner of the CFOA due to the company being headquartered in Switzerland, a neutral country in the war. On March 3, 1924 the Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad was created to operate CFOA lines until the Turkish government bought out all shareholders of the line. The CFOA was absorbed completely by the CFAB, later TCDD on June 1, 1927^[1].

Operations

Passenger Service

The CFOA operated many passenger trains on their lines. Their main line was between İstanbul and İzmit. The CFOA also operated the first passenger train between İstanbul and Ankara; this was a daily train that entered service in 1892. The most common steam locomotives for passenger trains were the class 33001^[3].

Freight Service

The CFOA's primary operation were freight trains. The CFOA mainly focused on transporting grain from central Anatolia to the ports in İstanbul. The CFOA also played a big role in the construction of the Baghdad Railway, by transporting good from İstanbul to Konya to help built the tracks. The CFOA owned and operated 2 major ports; the Port of Haydarpaşa and the Port of Derince. Most freight trains would load or unload at these ports.

Ports

The CFOA operated ports along with railways. Their main port was the Port of Haydarpaşa in İstanbul. This port exported most of the goods transported by the railway. With the heavy usage of the port, the equipment wasn't enough to support the traffic. The CFOA had difficulties to extend the port, so in 1897, the railway built a new port in Derince near İzmit. This port had a grain elevator to export grain from central Anatolia. The port of Haydarpaşa was finally extended in 1899. The Turkish State Railways acquired the ports in 1927^[1].

Timeline

• 1871 - Construction of a railway line from Kadıköy to Pendik, in İstanbul begins.
• 1872 - The railway from Kadıköy to Pendik is completed and opened on September 22.
• 1873
  • January 1 - The railway is extended to Gebze
  • August 1 - The railway is completed to İzmit
• 1880 - A British company starts to finance the railway and is taken over from the Ottoman government.
• 1888 - Construction of the line was transferred to Deutsche Bank to build the line to Ankara.
• 1890 - İzmit - Arifye section is completed.
• 1891 - The railway opens to Arifye on September 1.
• 1892 - The railway is completed to Ankara and opens on December 31.
• 1893 - A concession is awarded to build a branch line from Eskişehir to Konya.
• 1894 - Eskişehir - Alayunt and Alayunt - Kütahya branches are completed and opened on December 30.
• 1895 - Alayunt - Afyon section opens.
• 1896 - The railway to Konya is completed and opened on July 29.
• 1897 - The Port of Derince is inaugurated.
• 1899 - Branch from Arifye is opened to Adapazarı.
• 1914 - World War I begins.
• 1918 - World War I ends, the Allies begin to occupy Anatolia; CFOA put under British military control.
• 1920 - The Turkish nationalists take over the Ankara - Konya portion of the line and start to use it against the Greek military, during the Greco-Turkish War.
• 1923 - Treaty of Lausanne is signed, Allies are forced to leave Anatolia, railway is given back to Turkey.
• 1924 - The holding company, Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad is created to operate the railway.
• 1927 - The CFOA is officially absorbed by the Turkish State Railways.

Train Stations

The CFOA built and owned many train stations^[4]. The main stations notable are:

• Haydarpaşa Terminal, İstanbul
• İzmit Central Station, İzmit
• Adapazarı Railway Station, Adapazarı
• Bilecik Railway Station, Bilecik
• Eskişehir Central Station, Eskişehir
• Ankara Central Station, Ankara
• Kütahya Railway Station, Kütahya
• Afyon Central Station, Afyon
• Konya Central Station, Konya

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} CFOA History - Trains and Railways of Turkey
2. ^ Baghdad Railway - Wikipedia
3. ^ TCDD Steam Locomotives - Trains and Railways of Turkey
4. ^ CFOA Stations - Trains and Railways of Turkey

External links

• Trains and Railways of Turkey