The development of Turkey's railway network started in 1856 with the 130 km Izmir-Aydjn line. Turkey's total railway network now measures 11,005 km. The population distribution and the density of towns on railway routes increased as railway construction proliferated, particularly from 1856 to 1940. Public policies that favored transportation by road after the mid-twentieth century, however, marked the end of the railroad's effect on the spread of population.