Turkey's Marmaray opens in Istanbul

- Marmaray is the "deepest immersed tube tunnel in the world" with a depth of 60 meters.
- The escalators at the southern entrance of Sirkeci station is the longest escalator in Turkey with the height of 61 meters.
- The travel time between Asia and Europe by train passing under the Istanbul strait takes only 4 minutes.
- The Marmaray Project cost of which will reach 8 billion dollars with the completion of the suburban lines constitutes of a rail network of 76.6 km, 13.6 km of which is sunken tube tunnel.
- The Marmaray line has 36 stations which will reduce the travel time between Halkali (western end of Istanbul) to Gebze (the eastern end of Istanbul) from 185 min to 105 min.

ANKARA (AA) – The Marmaray project, the greatest project connecting Asia and Europe with an uninterrupted railway transportation under the Istanbul strait is opened by the participation of Turkish President Abdullah Gul and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

The Marmaray, opened on the 90th anniversary of the foundation of Turkish Republic, is called the Project of the Century with a past of 153 years. The Project introduces many firsts to the world in terms of the innovations it carries giving momentum to the railway technologies, its technical infrastructure, its grand economic cost.   

- The Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid dreamt it.

The idea of a railway tunnel to pass under the Istanbul strait was expressed by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid in 1860. The passage under the Istanbul strait was planned to fix tunnels on the pillars to be constructed on the base of the strait. This plan was taken forward and the first design was developed in 1902. The design foresaw a railway tunnel to be passed on the base of the strait. Since then many other ideas and thoughts were put forward concerning the Project. All new technologies were converted into designs. The will to construct a tunnel connection under the Istanbul strait to serve mass-transportation became more visible in 1800s and in 1987 the first comprehensive feasibility study of the project was done.  

As a result of the studies, the current route of the Project was determined as the best route. The Project defined in 1987 was discussed in the following years and in 1995 the government decided to update all studies of 1987.

- The first digger knocked on the base of Istanbul strait in 2004.

The updating of the studies were finished in 1998. The findings of the updating studies found out the correctness of the former studies. It was determined that the project would contribute to the increasing traffic jam problem of Istanbul people. In 1999, a funding agreement was signed between the Republic of Turkey and Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). This loan agreement formed the basis for the funding of Istanbul Crossing portion of the Project. Then the documents for tender of the project were prepared in March 2002.

In the same year, Contract BC1, Strait Tube Crossing Railway Construction which covered the strait tube crossing and approach tunnels together with 4 stations was tendered and the joint venture getting the tender commenced the work in August 2004 to realize a dream of 150 years with a ceremony participated by PM Erdogan.

 The project consists of a rail network of 76.6 km, 13.6 km of which consists of bored and immersed tube tunnel underground and undersea. The commencement digging of bored tunnels covering the stations of Ayrilikcesme-Uskudar-Kazlicesme-Yenikapi started on December 21, 2013.

- The first tube tunnel immersed in 2007.

The first tube tunnel of the 11 tunnels enabling passage under the Istanbul strait was immersed in March 2007 in a ceremony participated by Turkish Transportation, Maritime and Telecommunication Minister Binali Yildirim and DHL Director General Ahmet Arslan. Also the last and the deepest immersed tunnel of the world was immersed on September 23, 2008 to the 60 meters depth of Istanbul strait.

- The first rail welding done by PM Erdogan.

One of the turning points of the dream of 150 years was turned on January, 15, 2012 and PM Erdogan welded the first rail put on the Marmaray line at the entrance of Ayrilikcesme tunnel.

The first test drive of the Marmaray rail line was realized on August 4, 2013. PM Erdogan crossed the strait with the tube tunnel rail line connecting not only the Asian and European side of Istanbul but connecting London and Beijing via an uninterrupted rail line.

- Two ends of Istanbul will take 105 minutes to travel.

Thousands of workers and 1343 technical experts worked for the Turkish dream of 150 years. The first station of Marmaray consisting of total 5 stations, 3 of which underground will be integrated to Kadikoy-Kartal-Kaynarca metro rail line.

Marmaray Project consists of 3 sections namely Halkali section, Gebze section and the undersea section crossing the strait.

When it comes to the travel durations, the distance between Gebze and Halkali will take 105 minutes instead of 185 minutes with the rehabilitated suburb rail lines. Besides the travel duration between Bostanci and Bakirkoy will drop to 37 minutes, Sogutlucesme and Yenikapi to 12 minutes and Uskudar and Sirkeci 4 minutes. Thus it will take 4 minutes crossing two continents Asia and Europe.

The double line Marmaray will run underground at Yedikule and move to Sirkeci and pass under the Istanbul strait and reach the underground station of Uskudar on the Asian side of Istanbul. The Marmaray will get on-ground at Ayrilikcesme and move on to Sogutlucesme. This section which is around 13.5 km is put into service on Tuesday. Upon the completion of the suburb rail line of Gebze-Halkali, the Marmaray will take departures every 2 to 10 minutes. Marmaray will transport around 75 thousand people in single route per hour and is expected to transport 1.2 million people per day.

- The deepest immersed tube tunnel of the world.

The Marmaray Project, cost of which will reach 8 billion dollars with the completion of the suburban, is deepest immersed tube tunnel of the world. The escalators at the southern entrance of Sirkeci station is the longest escalator in Turkey with the height of 61 meters.

On surface metro section, with the length of 63 km, there are 37 surface stations. The rail line strait tube section is 13.6 km, 9.8 km of which consists of bored tunnel, 1.4 km immersed tube tunnel and 2.4 km cut-and-cover tunnels. There are 3 stations with a length of 225 meters.

The stations of Marmaray are as follows: Halkali, Mustafakemal, Kucukcekmece, Florya, Yesilkoy, Yesilyurt, Atakoy, Bakirkoy, Yenimahalle, Zeytinburnu, Kazlicesme, Yenikapi, Sirkeci, Istanbul Bogazi, Uskudar, Ibrahimaga, Sogutlucesme, Feneryolu, Goztepe, Erenkoy, Suadiye, Bostanci, Kucukyali, Idealtepe, Süreyya Plaji, Maltepe, Cevizli, Atalar, Basak, Kartal, Yunus, Pendik, Kaynarca, Tersane, Guzelyali, Aydintepe, Icmeler, Tuzla, Cayirova, Fatih, Osmangazi and Gebze.

- 11 tubes ranging from 98.5 m to 135 m length were used.

The tubes set under the Istanbul strait were manufactured in Tuzla. Turkish engineers also worked in manufacture of the tubes engineering works of which were done by Japanese engineers. A tube is around 135 m long, 5 m wide and weights around 18 thousand tones. 11 tubes ranging from 98.5 m to 135 m length were used. The tubes were manufactured in Tuzla and immersed in Buyukada offshores.

- The share of rail way system will increase in urban transportation.

Marmaray rail line will increase the portion of the rail way systems in urban transportation of Istanbul to 28 % and relief the traffic problem in Istanbul to a significant extent. Marmaray will be integrated to the Istanbul-Ankara High Speed Train and Istanbul Metro rail lines.

Marmaray will also relieve the traffic load on Strait Bridges and with full service of all sections of Marmara line the total saving is expected to be around 13 million hours. By 2015, the total annual saving is expected to reach 25 million and with full capacity service the annual saving of time will be around 36 million hour per year.

- Fees for single cross 1.95 Turkish lira.

The fee for Marmaray to start serving the Istanbul people on November 1 will be around 1.95 TL close to the normal urban transportation fees.  The transportation card of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Istanbul Kart will also be used in Marmaray.

- It changes the history of Istanbul.

In the archeological excavations within the scope of Marmaray projects, 13 shipwrecks and more than 35 thousands of archeological artifacts which would shed light on the history of Istanbul were found. Besides the skeleton of the early Istanbulite and foot prints dating back to 8,500 years (6,500 BC), the Thedesius Port which circulates in world literature but could not be found was unearthed in Yenikapi. In this port, which is also called the “Millennium  Port”, 13 shipwrecks were also found. The most striking of these ships, the “lagan 12”, was taken out with its load as it sank. The removal of the archeological artifacts was completed last year. These artifacts will be exhibited in the Arkeopark and Marmaray Museum to be established in 100 islands area in Yenikapi.

englishnews@aa.com.tr