Marmaray opens up two of our sides

Marmaray is opening, our two sides are coming together: Tomorrow the 150-year-old dream will come true and 'Marmaray' voyages will start. The two sides of the Bosphorus will join; The traffic of Mega Kent will take a sigh of relief.
Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım traveled between the two continents with media managers and writers. Minister Yıldırım gave technical information about the project of the century, which will be opened tomorrow. 75 thousand passengers per hour are planned to pass through Marmaray. For this reason, every precaution has been taken. Liquefaction was detected on the sea floor. The floors were turned into rocks with cement injection columns. Gaskets and steel sleeves were placed for water tightness. An alert system was established against a possible earthquake. As soon as the project alerts detect the earthquake, they will signal Kandilli and the main control center. This will allow the train on the line to return to the nearest station. In addition, walkways were set up on the banks of the rails for passenger evacuation. The stations were decorated with miniatures of historical artifacts found during excavations.
End of the tunnel leads to Europe
Our Editor-in-Chief Nuh Albayrak crossed the Bosphorus with Minister Yıldırım using Marmaray.
Marmaray excavations, Istanbul 4500 year old! Submerging tube tunnels and joining tunnel diggers were among the unforgettable ones.
In the period of Turgut Özal, when the most serious steps were taken for Marmaray, the project was finalized and the routes were determined. In 1999, Turkey and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), followed by the financial agreement signed between the Marmaray geotechnical investigations on 25 July 2002 and investigations were initiated. Within two months, this time, bathymetric studies on the Bosphorus were undertaken. Towards the end of 2002, deep sea drilling was also taken in the Bosphorus. When Calendars Show in May 2004, the Marmaray Project, which consists of three partners in Turkey and Japan signed a contract with an international consortium of TGN. Taisei Japan's leading partner in the consortium, while the Corporatito, Turkey Gama and Nurol Construction also rolled up its sleeves for the Marmaray construction as the local partner in Turkey.
On June 17, 2004, archaeological excavations, which caused great controversy and were said to delay Marmaray, started. The excavations, which Prime Minister Erdogan later said, "They made us lose a few years with pottery," changed the history of Istanbul!
35 sunken boats and 38 thousand museums have been unearthed in excavations so far. The number of pottery is over 40 thousand. Theodosius Harbor, the largest port of the Byzantine period, was unearthed during the excavations that went down to 6 and a half meters in Yenikapı. While traces of life from the Neolithic period were found in the excavations, a 8500-year-old human grave was found. This meant that the changing history of Istanbul goes back 4500 years! Around 390 footprints were found during the excavations. In addition, the world's oldest wooden finds such as arrows, bows and canoe paddles were found.
The construction of Marmaray started in October 2004. Along with the first loan of 200 million Euros from the European Investment Bank, the renewed loan agreement with JICA was signed on February 29, 2005. In the same days, the second leg of the loan obtained from the European Investment Bank with 450 million Euros came. The aim of the third loan of 2006 million Euros from the same address in June 400 was for the procurement of railway vehicles.
On December 21, 2006, the tunnel boring machines started working for the Ayrılıkçeşme and Yedikule tunnels. As the work done for Marmaray became concrete, the excitement gradually increased ...
On March 24, 2007, the first piece of immersed tube tunnel was finally lowered into the ditch dug at the bottom of the Bosphorus. The last of these tubes, the 11th, was downloaded on September 23, 2008, and the immersion process ended.
17 February 2010 was the date of a reunion! The machine that made the excavation of Ayrılıkçeşme had reached the end of the immersed tube tunnel.
Things did not always improve in Marmaray. After the ALSTOM-Marubeni-Doğuş (AMD) consortium, for which the contract was signed for the improvement of suburban lines in 2007, left the works, the contract was terminated on 19 July 2010 and the tender was resumed. By 2011, it was time for the excavating machine from Yedikule to reach the tube tunnel.
On January 26, 2011, with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, all tunnels under the Bosphorus were combined in one line. Track laying operations started on January 14, 2012. Prime Minister Erdogan was the first person to weld the rails. With the completion of the excavations in the South Entrance of Sirkeci on 17 August 2012, the Marmaray excavations came to an end. On September 26, 2012, the tunnel excavation was completed this time when the machine that dug one of the pedestrian walking tunnels at Sirkeci Station completed its task.
While all the excavations of Marmaray were completed on April 11, energy was started to be supplied to the stations in May. In June, the assembly of the rails was completed. The rails were energized on August 2, the first train tunnels were purchased. For Marmaray, the sweat shed for years, even centuries, would finally be received on August 4, 2013! That day, Ayrılıkçeşme-Kazlıçeşme route in time for test drive and try motorman seat to Prime Minister Erdogan, the wheels were turning a new era for Istanbul and Turkey ...
This historic happiness, tomorrow, all of Istanbul on the 90th anniversary of the Republic, all of Turkey will be common.
2 continent, 4 minutes
In the first stage, Marmaray, which will run on the "Kazlıçeşme-Yenikapı-Sirkeci-Üsküdar-Ayrılıkçeşme" route, and Üsküdar and Sirkeci, the stations at the ends of the Asian and European continents, are passed in 4 minutes. The stops, ready for the opening, were decorated with miniatures from underground.
TRAMVA WILL BE INTEGRATED
37 station will be added more
In the second phase of Marmaray, which includes the improvement of existing suburban lines of 44.4 km in the Asian continent and 19.2 km in the European continent, 37 stations will be modernized. The current number of lines will be increased to three, and the system will consist of 1 lines, T2, T3 and T3. Suburban trains will operate on T1 and T2 lines, while the T3 line will be used by intercity freight and passenger trains. Marmaray, Kadıköy-Kartal Rail System Project will unite at Ayrılıkçeşme (İbrahimağa) Station. While the giant project will be integrated with the Istanbul-Ankara High Speed ​​Train line from Gebze, it will also be connected to the Istanbul Metro. With the commissioning of suburban lines on both sides, from Gebze HalkalıIt will be reached in 105 minutes from Bostancı to Bakırköy in 37 minutes, and from Söğütlüçeşme to Yenikapı in 12 minutes.