Marmaray tunnel project to be completed this year: minister
Implementation of the Marmaray railway tunnel project will be completed later this year, Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said, the Sabah newspaper reported on Friday.
The minister said that implementation of the project will stimulate the country's transport sector.
The Marmaray railway tunnel is among largest projects in Turkey. The idea of building a tunnel under the Bosphorus which has been looked at since the middle of the XIX century was launched on May 9, 2004 under the name 'Marmaray'.
The project should ease traffic on the two bridges connecting the western and eastern parts of the megalopolis. Earlier it was reported that the project was to be completed in 2008.
The length of Marmaray's tunnel system is 76 kilometres and goes down to a depth of 1.4 kilometres. It is planned to build three new subway stations and 37 stations will be reconstructed. The project cost is $6.5 billion.
The Marmaray project is considered as an extension of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway which is being constructed by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey for entry to Europe.
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