Municipality bans passage of trucks and lorries on ferries in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

The Istanbul Municipality banned the passage of heavy vehicles on ferries in Istanbul on June 7, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Heavy-laden vehicles such as lorries and trucks will no longer be permitted to travel via sea on ferries, according to decision.  

In a written statement, the municipality’s press office said they will not allow the use of routes between the districts of Harem and Sirkeci and Çubuklu and İstinye.

“According to the regulation, the permission for ferryboat routes between Sirkeci and Harem as well as Çubuklu and İstinye by heavy vehicles including lorries and trucks has been lifted. Heavy vehicles will not use ferryboats due to the congestion it causes on sea traffic in the historic peninsula and the Bosphorus,” the statement said.   

The only option left for lorry and truck drivers is the newly opened Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge connecting Istanbul’s Asian and European sides.  

On April 30, the Istanbul Municipality imposed limited hours from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. for the boats to ferry the vehicles through the coastal routes of the historic peninsula and Sirkeci-Harem.

Earlier, the passage of heavy vehicles was also banned on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge by the Istanbul Municipality.

Drivers were constrained to use two sea routes with ferryboats due to round-trip high prices worth 300 Turkish Liras on the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. Drivers were required to pay 17 liras for one direction when using ferries.  

Drivers of heavy vehicles reacted to the municipality’s decision, demanding they reverse it due to the high tolls of the bridge. 

“This decision will affect us very badly. We pay 17 liras for this sea route, on the other hand, we have to pay at least 50 liras for a highway just to get to the bridge,” a driver had said.