TURKEY: Tunnelling for the 14·6 km Gebze metro was officially launched by Minister of Transport & Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu on June 14. The first section of the line is scheduled to open by the end of 2023.
The line in Kocaeli province to the southeast of Istanbul will run between Gebze OSB industrial zone and the adjacent district of Darıca, with 11 stations and all but 900 m of the route underground.
It will a have a capacity of 330 000 passengers/day, with trains running at up to 80 km/h and an end to end journey time of 19 min. Passengers will be able to interchange with inter-city services and the cross-Istanbul Marmaray commuter line which terminates at Gebze.
The metro project was initially developed by Kocaeli municipality, but responsibility was subsequently passed to the Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure because of the expected outturn cost of around TL2·5bn.
Bozankaya beat CRRC to win a TL349·8m contract to supply seven four-car driverless trainsets within 30 months. These will be stabled at a depot to be built 1 km north of the Gebze OSB station.
