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Türkiye has reached a preliminary agreement with six international financial institutions to secure $6.75 billion in external financing for a planned railway corridor linking Istanbul’s key logistics and airport hubs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said Tuesday.
The Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project will run along a strategic route linking Gebze, Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Istanbul Airport, and Halkali, creating a new rail axis spanning the northern edge of the city.
Uraloglu said the scale of international participation demonstrated confidence in Türkiye’s long-term railway plans and added that the Northern Peripheral Railway Project would be the country’s largest externally financed railway project.
The financing framework involves the World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the OPEC Fund for International Development.
Preparations for the construction tender are ongoing, and authorities aim to complete the tender process and begin work later this year after site delivery, the minister said.
The railway will stretch 125 kilometers (77.7 miles) and include extensive engineering structures. Authorities plan to build 44 tunnels with a combined length of 59.1 kilometers (36.7 miles) and 42 bridges totaling 22.4 kilometers (13.9 miles).
Once completed, the project will directly connect Istanbul Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport by rail for the first time, while easing congestion on the Marmaray corridor by diverting both freight and passenger traffic.
Officials expect the line to carry 33 million passengers and transport 30 million tons of freight annually once operations begin.
"The railway line crossing the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will significantly increase Türkiye’s rail transport capacity between Asia and Europe," Uraloglu added.
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