line traffic increased even more and the existing freight depots were moved to the Alsancak docks. The railway also changed the economy of İzmir completely. In the early 1900s, gas lamps were added to the city streets to replace the ones that operated with coal. With this, a power plant was added next to the station and tracks were extended through the station to the docks. The Ottoman Empire sided with Austria-Hungary and the German Empire. During the war the Ottoman Railway Company was taken from the English and operated by the Ottoman government. The Ottoman Empire eventually lost the war in 1920 and the Allies started to occupy Anatolia. The railway still operated but traffic decreased greatly. The station was miraculously unharmed during the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922. Control of the line was handed back to the ORC on 6 November 1922, when the Ottoman Empire officially collapsed. The Allied forces eventually left Anatolia after the Turkish Independence War and the Turkish Republic formed. The Ottoman Railway Company continued to operate under its concession by the Ottoman Empire. Traffic increased steadily and a new locomotive shed was built in 1923. In 1927 a railway museum opened in the station. Once the concession ended in 1935, the Turkish State Railways (1927) agreed to buy the ORC for £1,825,840. On 1 June 1935 the State Railways absorbed the ORC. Turkish State Railways era (1935–present) Traffic greatly increased in 1938, when the State Railways started daily service to Ankara. With this increase, a train shed was built over the platforms and the present day station was built. In the early 1950s, the tracks leading to the port were taken up and a new spur was built near Halkapınar. Alsancak became a "gateway to the south" in the 1970s, as trains departing from Alsancak all headed to destinations south of İzmir. Between 2000-2001 the State Railways built several more platforms and electrified the tracks, with plans to improve commuter rail in İzmir, however plans fell through and the new tracks served as storage tracks for old railway stock and the overhead wires were never used. On 23 July 2006 the station was closed to passenger service for the renovation of the surrounding lines. Between late 2006 and early 2010, Alsancak station was at an all-time low. No trains served the station until the construction of Karşıyaka tunnel was completed. On 25