Erdoğan inaugurates subway line to Istanbul Airport

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated a 34 kilometers-long subway line stretching from the city center to Istanbul Airport on Jan. 22.

The new line from the Kağıthane district of Istanbul to the airport has eight stations with 24 minutes of travel time.

“The construction of our subway, which broke many records in itself, is the story of a proud work full of national engineering achievements of our country,” Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of the Kağıthane-Istanbul Airport subway line on Jan. 22 in Istanbul. He said the people will be able to use the line free of charge for one month.

“We are here together with the excitement, happiness and pride of introducing a new historical work to Istanbul,” he said, informing that the new line will have the potential of carrying 800,000 persons daily.

Erdoğan, who had served as the Istanbul Mayor in the mid-1990s, recalled that Türkiye’s largest city has now more than 380 kilometers long rail transport and vowed that it will be extended to every corner of the city with 16 million residents.

“Despite all the obstacles, we are determined to resolve the traffic problem of Istanbul with our rail transport projects,” he stated, adding the government will continue to run similar projects to prepare Istanbul for the Century of Türkiye vision.

Erdoğan also stressed that the government’s services to Istanbul as Türkiye’s one of the most important treasures regardless of which party is running its municipality, referring to the fact that Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is from the ranks of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Kanal Istanbul to be realized

Erdoğan also reiterated that his government is very much determined in running the Kanal Istanbul project, which aims to create a man-made channel to link the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea.

“God willing, we will open a new breathing pipe to our city and reduce the burden of the Bosphorus with our Kanal Istanbul project. We will increase the brand value of Istanbul. Sooner or later, we are determined to accomplish this project of which we have already built its infrastructure,” he stated.

With Kanal Istanbul, the government is aiming at opening an artificial seaway between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea to mitigate the oil tanker traffic through the Bosphorus, one of the world’s busiest maritime passages.

The 45-kilometer canal to be developed on the west of the city center on the European side of the city is proposed to have a capacity of 160 vessel transits a day.