Istanbul

Türkiye is geographically and historically the link that unites Asia and Europe and if we talk about airports, Istanbul is immense and strategic for transportation from the West to the East. However, the Ottoman city of 15 million people is literally split into two continents because of the Bosphorus. A strait of just 700 meters that generates a colossal and chronic demand for mobility that no existing infrastructure has completely satisfied. Until now. Türkiye has just closed agreements with six of the world’s largest development banks to finance the most ambitious work in its modern railway history: a train line of 125 kilometers and 8,119 million dollars to join both shores. The project. It is called the Northern Ring Railway and it is a 125 kilometer long train line that will run through the north of Istanbul from Halkalı, on the European side, to Gebze in the Asian industrial zone. You will do so by crossing the Bosphorus through the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. It is a high-capacity train with double electrified track designed to transport both people and heavy goods: on the passenger sections it will reach 160 km/h and on the freight section 120 km/h, as collects the World Bank technical document. In addition to connecting both sides of the city, it will also link the city’s two major airports by rail for the first time: Istanbul Airport in Europe and Sabiha Gökçen in Asia. Why is it important. Because Istanbul is the geographical hinge between Europe and Asia and this railway will become part of one of the great international logistics corridors: it is more than a train that unites the city, it is geopolitical infrastructure. According to the Minister of TransportAccording to Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the line could transport 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of cargo per year, which would greatly change the country’s transportation landscape. Finally, and from an airport point of view, connecting its two international airports by train would solve an unthinkable mobility deficit in large cities like London. Context. Istanbul already has a railway crossing under the Bosphorus: the tunnel Marmarayinaugurated in 2013. At the time it was an engineering milestone, but today it is not enough: it works as an urban freight train and its capacity to move goods is marginal (only at night and with restrictions). The rest of the crossings between the continent within Ottoman territory are made by road (the three great bridges of the Bosphorus), with the logistical, traffic congestion and environmental cost that this entails. Alleviating this burden and making it more efficient has been a pending issue for Türkiye for decades. In figures. We have already been breaking down some of the figures in which the operation will be closed, still in its initial phase: Secured financing: 6,750 million dollars of the total (8,119 million dollars) from six international financial entities. Forecast of 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of goods per year. Total length of the line: 125 kilometers. With 44 tunnels and 42 bridges. How are they going to do it?. The line will use the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the city’s third major bridge, as a Bosphorus crossing point. The interior layout is resolved with 44 tunnels (more than 59 kilometers underground) and 42 bridges that add another 22 kilometers in height. That approximately 65% ​​of its route takes place in structure gives an idea of the technical difficulty and cost what it means to build in such a complex orographically urban environment. Thus, the north of Istanbul is a terrain full of hills, ravines and seismic activity that invite you to avoid filling and clearing as much as possible. Regarding financing, the six entities committed They cover practically all the relevant geopolitical blocs: the West with the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian with the Asian Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and OPEC, from the Middle East. The contribution of all of them amounts to 6,750 million and the other remaining 1,400 million must presumably be covered with the Turkish State’s own funds. The roadmap. The project is still in an early stage, preparing for the construction competition. The Ottoman government’s idea is to deliver the site before the year, at which time the works will begin. In addition, the banking agreements are still preliminary, so the negotiation and signing process still remains. Although the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey plans to start the works before the end of 2026, the international financial organizations that support the project place the operational completion of the infrastructure on the horizon of December 2032 given the complexity of the undertaking. Yes, but. Although the project is of capital importance for the country and global logistics, as evidenced by the international financial support, its initial stage is one of its main handicaps: it is subject to negotiations and delays that can complicate everything. And even if it does materialize, the cost can skyrocket. The World Bank Environmental Impact Assessment classifies the environmental and social risk of the project as “Substantial” due to the great seismic risk (Istanbul is on the North Anatolian Fault) of its route, which crosses the green lungs of the city (so it will affect critical water basins and habitats) or the risks to citizens in terms of annoyances such as noise or vibrations. In Xataka | 20 kilometers, 22 months and a gigantic challenge: connecting China and Mongolia by train through a brutal desert In Xataka | From the Atlantic to the Pacific in less than seven hours: Mexico wants to build its own “Panama Canal” Cover | Astronaut photograph ISS008-E-21752 – NASA Earth Observatory, Public domain and Büşra Salkım