Excavation completed on Istanbul’s M9 metro
9 July 2020Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has announced the completion of excavation on the twin tunnels of the city’s Ataköy-İkitelli M9 metro line. A ceremony to mark the end of excavation was attended at the breakthrough site by Ekrem İmamoğlu, mayor of Istanbul.
The 13.5km line comprises 12 underground stations from Ikitelli Sanayi to Ataköy in the south and is one of several running north-south on the European side of the city. The line passes under some of the most densely developed areas of Istanbul.
Excavation of the M9 tunnels began in 2017. A total of four Herrenknecht EPB TBMs have mined the twin tubes with two working from both ends of the tunnel alignment.
In March 2019, difficult ground conditions stopped tunnelling for three months. Istanbul’s geology comprises a mix of soft to heterogeneous ground comprising silty clays, silty sands, gravel deposits, slate, mudstone, limestone and sandstone.
A phased opening of the line will see the first section between Ikitelli and Bahariye stations operational in the first quarter of 2021. The line is expected to be fully operational by 2022. Journey times from Ataköy to Ikitelli will be around 19.5 minutes.
