Turkey's six giant transit projects worth $60 billion

Turkey's centenary dreams have come true via giant projects that have materialized during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's term. Six giant projects, which are Marmaray (rail system connecting Asia and Europe with an uninterrupted railway network under the Istanbul strait), Istanbul's 3rd Airport, Istanbul's 3rd Bridge, Euro-Asia Tunnel, Izmit Bay Crossing Project and Canal Istanbul, cost around $60 billion.

The Marmaray Project was first planned during Sultan Abdülmecit's reign in the 1860s.

THE EURO-ASIA TUNNEL

The Euro-Asia Tunnel will be serving 14.6 km between Kazliçesme and Göztepe, Istanbul's most congested road traffic area. The project's most attractive feature is the two-floor tunnel it has under the sea. The journey time on Istanbul's busiest route will be down to 15 minutes from 100 minutes. The project is expected to come into service in 2017. One hundred twenty million vehicles are estimated to pass through the 14,6km Euro-Asia Tunnel. The project will cost $1.245.000.000.

MARMARAY

The investment cost of Marmaray, the rail system that connects Asia and Europe with an uninterrupted railway network under the Istanbul strait has reached to 8 billion Turkish liras. Also, the archaeological excavation at the project site provided Istanbul proof of its earlier 8500-year history.

Marmaray is known as the world's 'deepest sunken tube tunnel.' The project is expected to raise the share of the rail system within the urban area up to 28 percent. It will also be linked to the high-speed train between Ankara and Istanbul and to the Istanbul subway. After the second phase of the Marmaray project is on stream, the journey time between Gebze and Halkali will be down to 105 minutes.

Marmaray carried 21.5 million passengers in the first 6 months.

THE THIRD AIRPORT: YAVUZ SULTAN SELIM

Istanbul's 3rd Airport project which has a 150-million-passenger capacity will be completed in 2018 and become the world's biggest airport. The project was tendered to the private sector with €26.142.000.000 worth of construction, operation and transfer cost. The first phase of the 3rd airport project will be in service on October 29, 2017. The project, which is one of the biggest in the Turkish Republic's history, will employ 120,000 people. Istanbul is expected to become a new center between the air routes from the EU to China's Shanghai.

CANAL ISTANBUL

The Canal Istanbul Project, which PM Erdogan has introduced as the 'Crazy Project', will offer an alternative transit route other than the Bosporus to international vessels. The 47 km-long canal is foreseen to host 160 vessel transits on a daily basis. When operating at full capacity, the project will be generating an income of $8 billion. The project, which will cost $5.5 billion, will be financing itself in one year, officials say. The 'Crazy Project' is hoped to tip the scales in Turkey's favor in the regional shipping route, from London to China.

THIRD BRIDGE IS HALF WAY THROUGH

Ground was broken on May 29, 2014, the anniversary of Istanbul's conquest by the Ottomans, for the 3rd Bridge and North Marmara Highway Project, which will cost Turkey $4.5 billion. Both projects, the build-operate and transfer, will be on stream in 2015, by a private-sector-consortium. The 3rd Bridge, under the 'Yavuz Sultan Selim' name, will lighten the transit traffic, and will contribute to the Asia-Europe high-speed rail system.

The project will also be integrated to the Istanbul subway and Marmaray; and connect Istanbul's three airports to each other. Measuring fifty-six meters wide with a 408-meter main span, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge is expected to be the widest in the world. This highway project is expected to ease the traffic on the 1st and 2nd bridges of Istanbul.

GEBZE-IZMIR MOTORWAY AND BRIDGE

The journey time between the cities of Istanbul and Izmir will be reduced to 3.5 hours by the 433km Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir Motorway project; one of the most important projects in modern Turkey's history. The project cost around $7.5 billion, $2.2 billion of which was spent on the construction and expropriations. It will be the world's second biggest infrastructure project. Besides, the Izmit Bay Crossing Suspension Bridge that is built between Gebze and Orhangazi will also be among the world's biggest. The above mentioned bridge will cut a 1.5 hour journey time down to 6 minutes.