Marmaray Tunnel half way there

Some 50 per cent of the undersea tunnel that will link the European and Asian sides of Istanbul is now complete, said Turkish transportation minister Binali Yildirim.

The Marmaray project, which runs under the Bosphorus Strait, arrived at this half-way point with the integration of the Yavuz Tunnel, running from Uskudar train station.

Yildirim told reporters, at a ceremony held to officially integrate the tunnels, that 50 per cent of the land and under water tunnels, measuring a total of 13.6km, 1.4km of which are underwater, had been completed in the project.

Construction on the project is being carried out by DHL, Japanese contractor Taisei Corporation and Turkish company Gama-Nurol.

Completion is scheduled for October 2013, and once complete the Marmaray Tunnel will be the world's deepest undersea immersed tube tunnel. The name 'Marmaray' (Marmarail) comes from combining the name of the Sea of Marmara, which lies just south of the project site, with 'ray', the Turkish word for 'rail'.

The Marmaray Project provides an upgrading of the commuter rail system in Istanbul, connecting Halkali on the European side with Gebze on the Asian side with an uninterrupted, high-capacity commuter rail system. The entire upgraded and new railway system will be approximately 76km long.

The foundation for the Marmaray line was laid by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 9, 2004.