Statements from the Minister of Transport Uraloğlu regarding Istanbul's Rail System Investments

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu visited AK Party Güngören District Headquarters within the scope of the Istanbul provincial program. Minister Uraloğlu made statements to members of the press here.

Answering questions about Istanbul investments, Minister Uraloğlu talked about urban rail systems. Stating that urban rail systems are the responsibility of the relevant municipalities, Uraloğlu said, "The authority is our Ministry; it approves the incoming projects, decides on their feasibility, etc. If the relevant municipality wants this to be undertaken by our Ministry, we will undertake it at the discretion of our President." he said.

“THERE IS AROUND 380 KILOMETERS OF RAIL SYSTEM IN ISTANBUL”

Explaining that the connections to national and national networks are made by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Uraloğlu continued his words as follows:

"For example, in Istanbul, we built and operated the line from Halkalı-Istanbul Airport to Gayrettepe. Likewise, Marmaray... Today, there are around 380 kilometers of rail system in Istanbul, 160-odd kilometers of which we have implemented. We operate some of them, some of them are operated by the Municipality. Of course, we need to say this: There is a total need for a metro for 1000 kilometers in Istanbul. In other words, we now transport Istanbul's traffic on rubber wheels from the ground. "We cannot solve it with systems."

THE TARGET IN SARIYER-KİLYOS TUNNEL IS THE END OF THE YEAR

Making a statement about the continuation of the Sarıyer-Kilyos Tunnel, Uraloğlu said, "First of all, hopefully we will have opened that tunnel by the end of the year. Look, this is exactly the job of the Metropolitan Municipality. So, when there was no movement there, we took it upon the instructions of our President and are doing it." he said.

“ISTANBUL NEEDS ANOTHER 600 KILOMETER METRO LINE”

Stating that there is approximately 400 kilometers of rail system with the ongoing projects in Istanbul, Uraloğlu said, "So, Istanbul needs another 600 kilometers of metro. First of all, these need to be planned by the Metropolitan Municipality. Of course, we take on our duties. Which one? Ümraniye-Beykoz line, for example. Look what happened there, it came to our agenda. We presented it to our President, he appreciated it and we took it under our responsibility. We are definitely evaluating the requests. What is ongoing? "We have a metro line that runs from Bosna Boulevard to Çamlıca Mosque and Ümraniye Sports Village. I hope we will complete it." he said.

ÇERKEZKÖY-KAPIKULE SECTION WILL BE OPENED NEXT MONTH

Speaking about the Halkalı-Kapıkule high-speed train line, Minister Uraloğlu said, "We will put the line between Çerkezköy and Kapıkule into service within the next month with the participation of our President. Hopefully, the section between Halkalı and Çerkezköy will also be available next year. Therefore, I would like to especially state for our Istanbul and our 81 that we, as the Ministry, are open to all kinds of cooperation, both under our own responsibility and in terms of local demands." He made a statement.