Cappadocia Express trains will run on the Ankara-Cappadocia and Istanbul-Cappadocia routes. Both trains will run daily and arrive in Kayseri. The train will include two locomotives and 14 cars. Each tourist train can accommodate 294 people. It is planned to transport at least 200,000 tourists a year.
In 12 carriages of the train there will be double compartments with full beds, a shower and a toilet, in two more carriages – luxury restaurants.
The project of the first luxury tourist train is being implemented jointly with the Japanese company HIS Travel and the Turkish company Sun Group, which deals with railway infrastructure.
At the first stage, it was planned to invest 40 million euros in the Cappadocia Express project. The target audience is tourists who are ready to spend at least 5 thousand euros for a trip.
Cappadocia Express will focus on the experience of such premium rail trains as The Pride of Africa (South Africa), Rocky Mountaineer (Canada), The Ghan (Australia), etc.
According to the latest data, in February 2022, one of the luxury trains is scheduled to start, departing from Istanbul. It is not yet known whether flights from Ankara will be launched at the same time.
HIS Travel and Sun Group are also planning to launch luxury tourist trains from Istanbul and/or Ankara to Eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Black Sea region and the Aegean coast.
