Türkiye secures $6.75B funding for its largest foreign-funded railway project

Türkiye has signed preliminary deals with six international lenders to obtain $6.75 billion in financing for a new railway line across the Bosphorus Strait, marking the largest foreign-funded rail project in the country's history, the transport minister said on Tuesday.

Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement that the 125-kilometer (77.7-mile) Northern Ring Railway Project, which will run through northern Istanbul, is projected to transport 33 million passengers and 30 million tons of cargo each year once finished, ushering in "a new era in logistics" by strengthening rail capacity between the Asian and European sides.

The minister said preliminary agreements had been reached with the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, OPEC Fund for International Development, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

He said preparations for the construction tender of the project are ongoing, and that they aim to complete the tender process and hand over the site to begin work within this year.

Uraloglu said that within the scope of the project, 44 tunnels with a total length of 59.1 kilometers and 42 bridges spanning 22.4 kilometers will be built. The railway line will cross the Bosphorus via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge.

"A new era will begin in logistics. Once the line is completed, we expect it to carry 33 million passengers and 30 million tonnes of freight annually," he added.

The new line will also ease freight and passenger traffic on Marmaray line and connect Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport directly by rail for the first time.