The Marmaray rail tunnel linking the Asian and European parts of Istanbul will be launched on October 29, Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Traffic and Communications Binali Yildirim said.
According to the minister, preparation works are currently being carried out in the tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 13.6 km.
The transportation capacity of the railway will be 75,000 passengers per hour in each direction. Trains will depart every two minutes. The transport capacity for both directions is expected to be 1.2 million passengers per day, Trend reports.
The ministry said that, this this is a unique project allowing the transportation of both passengers and cargo through the same tunnel.
After commissioning of the tunnel, the volume of rail transport in Istanbul will increase by 20%.
