TEXT MERCAN
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced at the first Cabinet Meeting of 2024 that he declared 2024 as the year of retirees. Within the scope of the “Year of Retirees”, Tarım Kredi, Turkish Airlines, Republic of Turkey State Railways, GSM operators, chain markets and some clothing stores, cinemas and theaters launched special campaigns for retirees.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that retirees will travel with a 10 percent discount on the ministry’s trains. Additionally, it was stated that retirees would receive a 20 percent discount on intercity bus tickets.
301 thousand 239 retirees benefited from the discount in 2024
Uraloğlu also stated that there is a 15 percent discount on trains for passengers aged 60-64, and a 50 percent discount for passengers aged 65 and over, and said, “We aimed to make their travels easier by applying a 10 percent retirement discount campaign to our retired citizens, regardless of age. “301 thousand 239 people have benefited from the discount so far.” he said.
44 percent increase in tickets, 15 percent increase in pensions
Following the increase in bridges, highways and tunnels, TCDD increased the High Speed Train, main line and regional train ticket tariffs by 44 percent as of January 13.
SSK and Bağ-Kur retirees received a 15.75 percent raise for the first 6 months of 2025. The raise rate for civil servants and retired civil servants was determined as 11.54 percent.
With the new tariff;
• Ankara-Istanbul route 540 TL’den 780 TL’ye
• Ankara-Konya route 250 TL TL’den 360 TL’ye,
• Ankara-Eskişehir route It increased from 280 TL to 390 TL.
10 percent retirement discount on trains has been abolished
According to the news of Ekonomim.com With the end of 2024, the “Year of Retirees” also ends. The 10 percent discount for retirees on YHT, Mainline and Regional trains has been abolished as of December 31, 2024.
If the retirement discount continued, a retiree;
• For Ankara-Istanbul route 702 TL instead of 780 TL,
• For Ankara-Konya route 324 TL instead of 360 TL,
• Ankara-Eskişehir route for 351 TL instead of 390 TL He would pay.
Citizens are reacting: Train discount has been removed before my pension increase arrives
Citizens reacted on social media to the removal of retiree discounts on train tickets. citizens ““Because the retirees are very rich, TCDD has abolished the discount issue.”, “2024 retirement year is over, TCDD has abolished the retirement discount”, “As soon as TCDD 2025 entered, it immediately removed the 10% discount because the retirement year was over”, “The train discount was removed before my pension increase arrived” He expressed his reactions through his posts.
How much were the ticket prices for 2024?
TCDD increased ticket prices by 25.6 percent in July 2024.
• Ankara – Istanbul ticket price is 540 TL
• Ankara – Konya ticket price is 250 TL
• Ankara – Eskisehir ticket price is 280 TL
The 20 percent discount on passenger buses has also been abolished
Minister Uraloğlu announced that 666 thousand 99 retirees would benefit from the 20 percent discount for retirees traveling intercity by bus in 2024.
With the end of the “Year of Retirees”, the 20 percent discount applied to retirees on intercity buses has also been abolished.
Bus tickets are expensive
With the arrival of the new year, intercity passenger buses also increased their ticket prices.
• The average bus ticket price for the Istanbul – Ankara route is 500 TL.
• The average bus ticket price for the Istanbul – Izmir route is 600 TL
• The average bus ticket price for the Istanbul – Konya route increased to 1000 TL.
If the retirement discount continued, a retiree;
• For the Istanbul – Ankara route 400 TL instead of 500 TL,
• For the Istanbul – Izmir route 480 TL instead of 600 TL,
• For Istanbul – Konya route 800 TL instead of 1000 TL He would pay.
