If you, too, are as interested as I am in mass transit, then I’ve got some good news– there’s now metro access to Istanbul International Airport (IST).
On 29 January the M11 metro line, connecting IST to Gayrettepe transfer station near downtown Istanbul, started operations. For your reference, I’ve added a snippet of the official Istanbul metro map here:
For likely users of this new metro access to Istanbul International Airport, you will still need to transfer to get to the city’s attractions. Expect the ride from IST to Gayrettepe to take around 30 minutes. Depending on where your hotel is, you may want to transfer at the prior station, called Kağıthane.
(NWAT reader Zanzibar reminded me that the IST train had already been operation to Kağıthane since 22 January 2023. This short extension to Gayrettepe makes it that much easier for tourists heading to Taksim and Sultanahmet.)
As someone who has experienced both merciless Istanbul traffic, and shifty taxi drivers, this opening brings good tidings. There are still airport buses — for IST, there’s Havaist — which offer connections to locations on the European and Asian sides of town. More importantly, they also have late-night departures, i.e. when the metro isn’t running.
On my most recent trips to Istanbul, I have avoided IST as much as possible. For transfer flights, it didn’t really matter, but I had zero desire to repeat traffic woes. That’s why I always opted for Istanbul’s Asian hub, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW). It, too, has an airport bus (Havabus), but I simply took the metro to my hotel, which in turn I started to book on the Asian side.
The fact that visitors now have metro access to both Istanbul airports merits praise. As for what’s next, how about more airport shuttles for IST-area hotels?
Most of the current M11 opened a year ago – 22 January 2023; but from Kağıthane to Istanbul Airport only.
What opened yesterday was the one-stop extension from Kağıthane to Gayrettepe.
Ah, you’re right, I misread the date. Thanks!
Nevertheless, the extension makes it that much easier to get to Sultanahmet, Taksim, and Yenikapı– places on many tourists’ radars.
Not really easier! The M11 station at Gayrettede and the M2 station of the same name appear to be about a kilometer apart (on Google map) and there is a mototway in between!
I can’t find any information about how to get from one to the other. Is there a walkway? A tunnel? A shuttle? Might be safer to leave the M11 at Kağithane!
In other words, you’re commenting that it’s not easier, in spite of not knowing whether it is?
Perhaps you’re confusing M2 with the Metrobus?
P.S if there is Walkway or tunnel, please leave a comment. I am arriving in 2 weeks!
Respectfully, I am not confusing M2 with Metrobus. I need to get from M11 to M2 in order to connect with T1.
I’ll admit “easier” is a subjective term and for me, navigating the streets of Gayrettede in the evening carrying luggage, and potentially getting lost, seems likely to be more difficult than walking across the park at Kağithane where the M7 seems to be line of sight from M11.
I concede that changing to M7 necessitates an extra change to M2 down the line and so would definately not be easier in terms of time & cost and perhaps even total metres walked, but seems easier in terms of navigation UNLESS there is a walkway or tunnel at Gayrettede.
I should have written “not necessarily easier” instead of “not really easier”. My apologies for the nuances of the English language.
Anyway, is there a tunnel or walkway at Gayrettede?
Have you been there? If so, is the way to M2 well signposted? How easy would you say it is to become lost or confused around those streets?
I look forward to your generous response.