Istanbul Northern Railway Project to receive first bids on October 14

Turkey's Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure is advancing the Istanbul Northern Railway Transit Project, a 120-kilometer double-track line designed to serve as an alternative to the Marmaray system. The project will connect Gebze to Halkalı and utilize the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge to increase railway crossing options across the Bosphorus.

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that the first bids for the project are scheduled to be received on October 14. The investment is estimated to be approximately $6 billion, with construction targeted to begin next year. The new line aims to alleviate pressure on the Marmaray, which currently handles between 600,000 and 700,000 passengers daily via roughly 300 train services, by providing additional capacity for both passenger and freight transport.