Field study of the three-story Grand Istanbul Tunnel has started, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday.
"Some 75,000 passengers will travel on the railways per hour as part of the project. On the other hand, 120,000 vehicles will travel on the railway per day," Erdoğan told a campaign rally in the largest Turkish metropolis.
He stressed that the project is first of its kind in the world.
The field study will be completed in 2019 and then put in a tender with a built-operate-transfer model, the president said.
As the project is completed, some 6.5 million people is expected to travel between the Asian and the European side of Istanbul via the tunnel.
