Subway line project to Istanbul’s third airport launched

ISTANBUL

A project to construct a subway line connecting Istanbul’s third airport to the city center has been launched, said Transportation Minister Feridun Bilgin.

A tender for the project’s testing and preparation stage has started, with the aim of completion in one year’s time, Bilgin said. The tender was made July 27 and after a year of project testing and other processes, the construction’s main tender will be made in mid-2016, said the minister. 

“The new subway line will enable people to reach the third airport from several points in the city center faster,” Bilgin noted, as quoted by Anadolu Agency. 

The subway line, starting from Gayrettepe, will be 33 kilometer-long and will take 26 minutes from one end to the other. Gayrettepe, where the existing subway, Metrobus and bus lines currently meet, will be the main transfer point for both the Asian and European sides, Bilgin said. 

The trip from Istanbul’s touristic İstiklal Street to the new airport will take 42 minutes and 70 minutes from the Kadıköy district on the Asian side, he added. 

The new airport is being constructed at the road junctions of Arnavutköy, Göktürk and Çatalca, north of Istanbul’s European side, between the Black Sea regions of Yeniköy and Akpınar. There is currently no sea or subway transportation to the site from the city center. 

Phase A of the construction’s first stage has plans to be finished in the first quarter of 2018 to serve 90 million passengers, according to company representatives in an exclusive interview with Hürriyet Daily News. 

At this time, two landing fields and one terminal will be opened. Sixteen months after the phase’s completion, the company will need to open the third landing field. 

After its completion, the new airport will serve a total of 150 million passengers and over 150 airline companies, while employing 100,000 people.