Marmaray serves 1.6 billion passengers in 13 years

ISTANBUL

Marmaray, the undersea rail linking the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, has served a total of 1.6 billion passengers since it entered service on Oct. 29, 2013, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.

Marking the 13th anniversary of the project, Uraloğlu said the foundations of Marmaray were laid in August 2004 and that the line transformed transportation between the two sides of Istanbul. He noted that the immersed tube tunnel reaches a depth of 60 meters below sea level and connects the two continents by rail, reducing travel time between Asia and Europe to four minutes.

Uraloğlu said nearly 181 million passengers used Marmaray in the first 10 months of 2026. He added that the line set a new daily ridership record on Oct. 6, carrying 762,870 passengers.

The minister said Marmaray is integrated with Istanbul’s metro, metrobus, tram and maritime transport systems and provides uninterrupted transportation through its 76.6-kilometer route and 43 stations between Halkalı and Gebze.

According to Uraloğlu, Marmaray operates 287 services per day, including 149 trips on the Halkalı-Gebze route and 140 on the Pendik-Ataköy route. The number rises to 297 with additional late-night weekend services.

He also said the fleet consists of 54 train sets and 440 rail cars, including 34 ten-car sets and 20 five-car sets.