New third tunnel under Bosphorus set to open in 2028

Adil Karaismailoglu, the Transport and Infrastructure Minister, explained recently that the third tunnel, officially nicknamed the “Great Istanbul Tunnel”, will be in service from 2028, connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.

The vision of the “Century of Turkey”

The minister continued to note that: “We foresee that the tunnel planned to be opened in 2028 for service will have the capacity of serving 1.3 million passengers on a daily basis.”

The Turkish government presented the “Century of Turkey” vision last October and the minister explained that the project would be one of the symbols of this vision.

The minister also explained the importance of the construction of this crossing, asserting that along with the Marmaray and Eurasia Tunnel, what is being nicknamed “The Great Istanbul Tunnel”, will mark the third crossing under the Bosphorus.

Exceeding 3 million per day

Further to this, Karaismailoglu explained that the number of crossings between the Asian and European sides, according to the calculations made from the data in line with the main plan for Istanbul transportation, will exceed 3 million crossings per day once completed. At current, the figure is more than 2 million each day.

He continued to emphasise that: “As always, we are proactively developing plans now to prevent any future issues arising from the growing traffic.”

New capacities expected by 2028

Karaismailoglu further stated that: “The 'Great Istanbul Tunnel' will span a total length of 28 kilometres (17.7 miles) and will consist of 13 stations. The metro project, which will serve a total of 1.3 million passengers daily when put into service in 2028, will have a capacity of serving 70,000 passengers per hour in one direction.”

When explaining that the new total travel time for the tunnel route would be 42 minutes, he further added that it would become integrated with 11 different railways and would also allow the Metrobus line – considered the backbone of the Turkish transportation system within Istanbul – to operate at its optimal capacity.