The Marmaray Project provides an upgrading of the commuter rail system in İstanbul, connecting Halkalı on the Eurepoen side with Gebze on the Asian side with an uninterrupted, modern, high capacity commuter rail system.
“Istanbul Strait Rail Tube Crossing and Commuter Railway Upgrading (MARMARAY) Project” comprises of three phases as following;
i. Constructing an immersed tube tunnel under the Istanbul Strait with approaching tunnels,three underground and one surface stations,
ii. Upgrading the existing commuter rail system including a new third track on ground and completely new electrical and mechanical systems,
iii. Procurement of the rolling stock.
The total length of the Project is approximately 76 km; immersed tunnel part is 1,4 km., approaching tunnels are 12,2 km. and surface tracks to be upgraded are nearly 63 km. There will be constructed three new underground stations, upgraded and renovated 37 existing surface stations. The Project will have three tracks. While two of the tracks will serve as high capacity commuter rail system, the third track will be used by intercity passenger and freight trains between the continents Asia and Europe. The tunnel will provide uninterrupted railway connection for Asia and Europe. The Project has also significance for Turkey’s connection to the Trans European Network.
This Project is one of the major transportation infrastructure projects in the world at present. When introducing major infrastructure projects such as the Marmaray Project, it is important to realize that it will influence not only the daily traffic pattern of Istanbul, but it will also influence the development of the city and the region. It is therefore imperative that the objectives of the project are described in clear terms.
The most important objectives are to:
provide a long-term solution to the current urban transportation problems of Istanbul;
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relieve existing operating problems on the mainline railway services;
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provide direct connection of railway system between the continents Asia and Europe
increase capacity, reliability, accessibility, punctuality and safety on the commuter rail services;
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reduce travel time and increase comfort for a large number of commuter train passengers;
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reduce air pollution resulting from the exhaust gases and thereby improve the air quality of Istanbul;
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reduce adverse effects on historical buildings and heritage sites by offering a potential for
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reducing the number of cars in the old center of Istanbul.
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The total cost of the Project is expected as roughly 3 billion USD including the engineering and consulting services and other costs such as land acquisitions, archeological excavations etc.
Current Status:
A loan agreement between the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Republic of Turkey has been signed under Official Development Assistance (ODA). The loan is to cover the costs for the engineering and consulting services including supervision and the construction costs for the Istanbul Strait Crossing phase of the Project; i.e. the tunneling works, the deep stations and some related Electro-Mechanical works.
The tender for Consultancy Service was started in 2001 and the Avrasya Joint Venture (Oriental, JARTS, Yuksel Proje) consequently was awarded the tender and started to work in March 2002.
The process for selection of a Contractor for the first phase was started in mid 2003. The Contractor of BC1 Contract, TAISEI-GAMA-NUROL Joint Venture, has started working in August 2004. The archeological excavations and NATM tunneling works are being performed. Dredging works in the Strait had finished. Ground treatment of the Strait and manufacturing of eleven tube elements had been realized. Eleven tube elements’ construction had been completed and all elements had been immersed in trench. Futhermore five Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) used during the construction works and three of them had started boring.
The second phase of the Project (Commuter Rail Upgrading) is partially financing by European Investment Bank. The loan agreement between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Turkey has been signed. This loan is to cover the infrastructure and all electrical and mechanical systems of the Project, i.e. the tracks, signaling system, on-ground stations, operations and control centre, power supply system etc. The funding of remaining amount, which is needed in this phase, is financed by European Council of Development Bank and the loan agreement has been signed in June 2008. The Contractor of CR1, ALSTOM-MARUBENI_DOĞUŞ Joint Venture, has started to working on June 21, 2007.
On the other hand, a loan agreement including 400 million euro for the third phase (Rolling Stock Procurement) between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Republic of Turkey has been signed in March 2006. The tender of Rolling Stock Procurement had been completed and awarded to Hyundai-Rotem Company. The Contract CR2 had been signed on November 10, 2008.
