Türkiye signs $1.9B World Bank deal for Istanbul rail crossing

Türkiye’s Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek and World Bank Managing Director Anna Bjerde signed a €1.67 billion ($1.9 billion) financing agreement on Tuesday for the Istanbul North Rail Crossing (INRAIL) project. The signing took place during the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.

Third-largest World Bank project

Simsek stated that the deal is the third-largest project ever approved by the World Bank, with total financing of $8.1 billion, approximately 83% of which comes from international institutions. “This deal provides financing, strengthens standards and sends a clear signal of confidence to global markets,” he said. The INRAIL project involves a 127-kilometer electrified high-capacity railway crossing the Bosphorus Strait via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, bypassing Istanbul’s metropolitan area.

Boosting trade and employment

Once operational, the project will increase annual rail freight capacity across the strait from 3 million to 50 million tons, reduce logistics costs, connect Istanbul’s two airports to the national rail network, and remove a key bottleneck along the Middle Corridor — the fastest Beijing-London trade route at just 18 days. Simsek noted that INRAIL will create higher-income employment for over 400,000 workers. Bjerde said the project will strengthen Türkiye’s connectivity with Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, boosting regional trade. Türkiye has attracted $355 billion in transport investment over two decades, with railways as the next expansion focus.