The 1838 Baltalimani Treaty of 1838 and the lifting of export bans raised the potential for an increase in Izmir-based trade. However, caravan trade with camels had significant limitations in terms of duration and volume. Rail transportation offered important opportunities to overcome these limitations and was becoming increasingly widespread in Europe. There was a consensus among foreign merchants in İzmir that connecting İzmir and Western Anatolia by railroad would lead to a tremendous increase in the volume of trade.
Robert Wilkin, a British merchant in Izmir, together with four partners, applied to the Ottoman Empire in 1855 for the concession to build a railway between Izmir and Aydin. As a result of the negotiations, Wilkin, who succeeded in obtaining the concession in September 1856, sold this concession to another group in England in 1857 and this group established the company named “Ottoman Railway from İzmir to Aydın” to build and operate the railway.
The 70 km section, the first stage of the construction works that started in September 1857, was completed on November 14, 1861. Prior to this, İzmir-Torbalı line was opened for operation on December 24, 1860. The entire line was completed and put into operation on June 7, 1866. In the period following the railway's arrival in Aydın, the company obtained new concessions and, over time, continuously expanded the railway along the traditional caravan route, and by 1912, a total of 582 km of railway network had been built from İzmir to Isparta, including branch lines.
The second railroad concession granted by the Ottoman Empire in Anatolia was centered in İzmir. The railway concession connecting Izmir to Turgutlu was granted to a British merchant named Edward Price in 1863. Started in 1864, the construction of the line was completed and put into operation in 1866. Similar to the Izmir-Aydın railway line, this line was extended to Afyon and Bandirma over time, and by 1912, a total of 702 km of railway network had been constructed, including branch lines.
When both railway lines are considered together, it is seen that approximately 1,300 km of railway lines, centered in İzmir, were built in a period of 50 years, starting in the 1860s. Thanks to these lines, Western Anatolia was connected to Izmir as a whole and the volume of Izmir-centered trade increased to an extent incomparable to previous periods. These developments, which strengthened İzmir's port-city identity, are also the story of the articulation of Western Anatolia as a whole, with İzmir as its center, to the world economy.
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