Istanbul metro, tram and ferries: map, opening hours and routes for visitors

In Istanbul a visitor can usually manage with four kinds of transport: the T1 tram across the historic peninsula, the M2 metro line to Taksim, the city ferries across the Bosphorus and the Marmaray train, which runs beneath the strait. Most metro lines run from about 06:00 to midnight, but the network has no single closing time, and on Friday and Saturday nights some lines run without a break. The map and timetable are easiest to keep in the official Metro İstanbul app. How to pay and what a ride costs are covered in the separate gezdir.me guide to the Istanbulkart, so this article deals only with lines, hours and routes.

Metro: what time it closes and when it runs at night

The metro lines are run by Metro İstanbul, a company owned by the municipality. First and last trains depend on the line, the direction and the station, so the general figure at the top of this article is only a rough guide: that is how the newspaper Fanatik presented it on 25 May 2026, and Gzt wrote plainly on 16 July 2026 that the operator announces no common closing time. If you have a change to make in the evening, look up the last train for your own station.

The night service, gece metrosu, was introduced by the municipality in 2019: on the nights from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday, and before public holidays, some lines stay open, but trains come less often — the interval then was 20 minutes, as Hürriyet reported. The list of lines has changed since. For the Ramazan Bayramı weekend in March 2026, Yeni Şafak named M1A, M1B, M2, M3, M4, M6 and M7, and in summer Gzt reported that M4 runs non-stop from Friday morning until Sunday midnight. The current list as of 7 November 2026 could not be checked with the operator: the metro.istanbul website did not open. Before a night journey, check the app.

The most useful line for visitors is M2 Yenikapı–Hacıosman. From Yenikapı it runs via Vezneciler, Haliç station right on the metro bridge over the Golden Horn, Şişhane and Taksim, then on to Osmanbey, Şişli-Mecidiyeköy, Gayrettepe and Levent. At Yenikapı it meets the M1 line and Marmaray, at Taksim the funicular to Kabataş, and at Gayrettepe the M11 line from the airport. The first section of M2, from Taksim to Levent, opened in 2000, and the line reached Yenikapı on 15 February 2014, when the bridge over the Golden Horn was completed; since then you can ride from the peninsula to Taksim without coming up to street level.

Metro İstanbul San. ve Tic. A.Ş. publishes the official network map in its Metro İstanbul app. According to its Google Play description, it brings together the rail map “İstanbul Raylı Sistemler Ağ Haritası”, the current timetable, all stations on a map, directions to the nearest station and service announcements, with an interface in Turkish and English. The app was last updated on 17 November 2025.

T1 tram: the sights along the line

T1 runs from Kabataş on the Bosphorus shore to Bağcılar in the west of the city: 31 stops over 19.3 km, operated by Metro İstanbul. Visitors need its eastern stretch, where almost every stop leads to one of the city's main sights:

• Kabataş — the terminus, with a change to the funicular up to Taksim and a ferry pier; from here it is a short way along the shore to Dolmabahçe Palace.
• Karaköy — change to the Tünel underground funicular; from here streets climb to the Galata Tower.
• Eminönü — ferry piers, the Spice Bazaar and a change to the T5 tram along the Golden Horn.
• Sirkeci — change to Marmaray.
• Gülhane and Sultanahmet — the stops for Topkapı Palace, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern.
• Beyazıt – Kapalıçarşı — the entrance to the Grand Bazaar.
• Laleli – İstanbul Üniversitesi and Aksaray — changes to M2 and M1.

T1's hours and the gap between trams could not be confirmed on official pages, and press reports on the night service do not mention this line. Late in the evening, rely on the metro or a ferry.

Ferries: how to use the vapur

The city ferry, the vapur, is ordinary transport in Istanbul, not a sightseeing trip. The main operator is the municipal company Şehir Hatları; the private Turyol and Dentur run some routes across the strait, and İDO's fast catamarans and car ferries serve longer lines. On the European shore the piers visitors need are Eminönü, Karaköy, Kabataş and Beşiktaş; on the Asian shore, Üsküdar and Kadıköy. You pass the turnstile of the ferry building with an Istanbulkart, as in the metro; after it you wait to board in the hall or on the pier and go out on deck once the boat casts off.

From Eminönü, Şehir Hatları runs two lines to the Asian shore: Kadıköy–Karaköy–Eminönü and Üsküdar–Karaköy–Eminönü, so some sailings call at Karaköy on the way. The timetable of the Kadıköy line could not be read on 7 November 2026: the Şehir Hatları website and its timetable file answered with a Cloudflare check and a 403 error, and aggregator sites are not treated as a source. The winter timetable is now in force; according to a municipality statement quoted by Cumhuriyet, a booklet with it is handed out at all Şehir Hatları piers, and departure times are in the company's app and on the Alo 153 phone line.

This winter, night sailings also continue on the Kadıköy–Karaköy–Beşiktaş line in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday, so you can get back from the Asian shore even after most metro stations have closed. Tours along the strait to the Black Sea are a different format, covered on the Bosphorus cruise page.

Marmaray: how to cross under the Bosphorus

Marmaray is the Halkalı–Gebze suburban railway, 76.6 km long with 43 stations. It is run by the state company TCDD Taşımacılık, not by Metro İstanbul. The section under the strait opened on 29 October 2013 and the whole line on 12 March 2019, as Daily Sabah reported. Under the Bosphorus itself the train runs through an immersed tunnel about 1.4 km long at a depth of about 60 m. The full journey from Gebze to Halkalı takes 115 minutes, according to the same newspaper, but visitors usually need only a few stations in the centre.

For a visitor it is the shortest way from the peninsula to the Asian shore: from Sirkeci station, which has a change to T1, it is one stop to Üsküdar. Other useful changes are Yenikapı (M1 and M2), Üsküdar (M5) and Ayrılık Çeşmesi (M4).

Since 3 May 2026 the 23:20 train from Gebze to Halkalı and the 23:28 from Halkalı to Gebze run every day, not only at weekends, BirGün reported, citing a Marmaray announcement. These are departures from the termini. First trains and times at intermediate stations could not be checked against the official timetable: the TCDD Taşımacılık website did not respond.

Funiculars and the nostalgic tram on İstiklal

The F1 funicular links Kabataş, where T1 stops, with Taksim Square and the M2 station. It is an underground line 594 m long, opened in 2006; the ride up takes about 2.5 minutes, and it is run by Metro İstanbul.

The second funicular, Tünel, has been running since the 19th century: a short underground climb from Karaköy to the upper Tünel station in Beyoğlu, at the start of İstiklal. The height difference between the stations is about 62 m, the ride takes roughly a minute and a half, and the line is run by İETT.

From the upper station the T2 nostalgic tram runs along İstiklal Avenue to Taksim: 1.6 km and five stops — Tünel, Ağa Camii, Galatasaray, Odakule and Taksim. It returned to the street on 29 December 1990, after İstiklal was pedestrianised, and in 2024 battery-powered cars entered service on the line. Its current timetable and frequency have not been officially confirmed.

How to get from Sultanahmet to Taksim and the Galata Tower

The simplest way from Sultanahmet to Taksim is the T1 tram to the Kabataş terminus and then the F1 funicular up, with no uphill walking. The second option is more interesting along the way: T1 to Karaköy, Tünel up, then along İstiklal on foot or by the nostalgic tram to the square. The third is T1 to the Laleli – İstanbul Üniversitesi stop, about 300 m on foot to the M2 station Vezneciler and the metro across the Haliç bridge to Taksim; it helps if the tram to Kabataş is packed or you are continuing north on M2.

Three routes also lead to the Galata Tower. The simplest is T1 to Karaköy and a walk up the steep streets. Without the climb: Tünel to the upper station and a short walk down to the tower. From the north of the city, M2 to Şişhane station, which stands on the same hill, is more convenient.

Metrobüs and cable cars

The Metrobüs is İETT's rapid bus service, running since 2007 in a dedicated lane along the highway: about 52 km and 44 stops from Beylikdüzü in the west to Söğütlüçeşme on the Asian shore, over the Bosphorus Bridge. It bypasses the historic centre, so visitors do not need it for Sultanahmet and Galata. It is useful for crossing to the Asian side by the bridge or reaching Zincirlikuyu (change to M2) and Söğütlüçeşme (change to Marmaray). Bear the crowds in mind: in 2018 the line carried about a million passengers a day, and at rush hour the buses are full.

The city has two cable cars. TF1 Maçka–Taşkışla, 333.5 m long, has crossed a green valley about 42 m deep since 1993. TF2 climbs from Eyüp to the Pierre Loti hill above the Golden Horn; gezdir.me covers it in its itinerary for several days in Istanbul.

When the authorities close lines

Some stations and lines are closed during mass events by decision of the Governor of Istanbul. If your day in the city falls on such a date, check the Metro İstanbul and İETT announcements the evening before and keep a back-up route via T1 or Marmaray.

Photo: Aykhan Zayedzadeh · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emin%C3%B6n%C3%BC_Pier_2026.jpg)