It was built in 1873 as part of the Chemins de fer Orientaux main line between İstanbul and Belgrade.

It then follows the Marmara seashore to exit the city, passing the Istanbul walls at Yedikule.

At Çatalca, the line will start climbing at an average rate of 6‰ to a 200m high point near the Kurfallı station.

From there, the line will follow the Ergene River all the way until Uzunköprü station, at an average altitude of 50m.

In 1971, the State railways built a new line from Pehlivanköy to the Bulgarian border at Kapıkule, bypassing Greek territory.