Marmaray Project
Marmaray Project is one of the biggest projects of the Turkish Ministry of Transportation and will be an important solution for the public transportation in Istanbul.
With this project, an uninterrupted above ground metro line of 76.3 km will be constructed from Halkali in the European side to Gebze in the Asian side that will be modern, high capacity, fast, environment friendly, not harming the historical structure, and integrated with the other transportation systems. It will also create a huge network between East and West in the future when it will be implemented with the European high speed trains or with Istanbul - Ankara High Speed Train and Kars - Tbilisi Projects.
Marmaray Project will decrease the pollution of automobile traffic and dependence of highways and individual transportation, using electric power that is not dependent on foreign resources, and create a contemporary transportation system that forms the basis of a modern civic life.
The Project consists of different contracts such as underwater railways tunnel construction through the Bosphorus Strait and improvement of 43.4 km (27 mi) long Gebze - Haydarpasa and 19.6 km (12 mi) long Sirkeci - Halkali suburban rail lines.
The railway lines in both sides of Istanbul will be connected to each other by an underwater tunnel passing through the Bosphorus. It goes underground in Yedikule neighborhood, continues with Yenikapi and Sirkeci underground stations, connects to Üsküdar underground station by passing through the Bosphorus underwater tunnel and continues above ground in Sögütlücesme. There will be an above ground metro, 63 stations will be modernized, and number of rail lanes will become 3. Trains will serve at every 2 - 10 minutes between Halkali and Gebze stations and 75.000 passengers will be transported per hour in both sides.
Marmaray Project is perceived as the backbone of Istanbul's transportation system. Üsküdar station the Asian side and Yenikapi station on the European side will be the transfer junctions. It is planned to integrate Marmaray Project with the existing and future Yenikapi - Taksim - Sisli - 4.Levent - Ayazaga metro and Yenikapi - Yenibosna - Atatürk Airport, Kadiköy - Kartal, Esenler - Mahmutbey, and Üsküdar - Ümraniye - Dudullu light-railway systems.
The construction of the quakeproof tunnel still continues today under the Bosphorus and the first stage is planned to be completed by the end of 2009, then it will be possible to integrate it with the other systems.
Hope to see you soon in Istanbul.
Source: Ministry of Transport