The railway was founded in 1925 by the Turkish government and headquartered in Erzurum. The purpose of the railway was to take over ownership and operations of the Transcaucasus Railway within Turkey.
References
^Tanli Bora (2012). Tren Bir Hayattir. Istanbul: Iletisim Yayinlari. pp. 75–76. ISBN978-975-05-1064-9.