Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) President Ekrem İmamoğlu, started the excavation of the second TBM (tunnel boring machine) of the Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli Metro Line. Speaking at the start of the excavation ceremony of the line, the construction of which was stopped after 2017, İmamoğlu stated that the most sensitive and meticulous issue is the elimination of the deficiencies of the metro transportation lines and starting the production as soon as possible, and said, "Our goal is to bring the 20 kilometers of metro to Istanbulites a year."
IMM President İmamoğlu started the second TBM excavations of the Çekmeköy-Sancaktepe-Sultanbeyli Metro Line, which was handed over in April 2017, but the construction works were stopped with an official letter after 2017.
TAKING THE RIGHT STEPS IS REQUIRED FOR URBANIZATION
Expressing that the world is going through a period shaped by cities and cities have very important duties, İmamoğlu continued his speech as follows:
“Today, Istanbul has a population of 16 million; But when you look at it, our active population, together with our refugees, immigrants and foreign guests, is over 18 million. A city with intense tourism and actually targeting around 15-20 million tourists a year would have a huge impact on the world. In this sense, taking the right steps at every point is a necessity of urbanism and life. Taking proper steps in urbanization; protecting nature; It is also a necessity to be able to make transportation in the best quality, most environmentally friendly way. "
Noting that metro lines are an indispensable public transportation system for big cities, İmamoğlu said, “The environmentalist side of the metro that we have mentioned is actually valuable. They have multiple advantages. Yes, maybe it has difficulties in terms of initial cost; But these will be overcome, we will surpass them, and we must set a serious goal and achieve this in order to reach a beautiful city where every point of our city is accessible by subway ”.
THE MOST SENSITIVE, MOST PRECISE SUBJECT; METRO LINES
İmamoğlu emphasized that the most meticulous and sensitive issue since the day they took office is the metro lines, and continued his speech as follows:
“Actually, we are in a subway line that was stopped in 2017. So, so to speak, yes, certain metro lines have been planned; There are lines with shortcomings and errors. There are project deficiencies, lines with manufacturing errors. From the moment we took office, if you ask, what is the first issue on which we acted most sensitive and meticulously; It really means walking with a system in which these shortcomings of metro transportation lines are eliminated as soon as possible and their production has started. In this sense, all my colleagues have made a really hard effort. This was also accompanied by contractors managing these works. Together with them, we are trying to overcome these difficulties. From the project group to the manufacturing companies; We tried to overcome these problems, to start these processes in a healthy way and to set calendars that Istanbul residents would not be deceived with a collaboration from engineers to workers. The dates we have stated on this subject are the target dates that have been considered meticulously and by eliminating all the deficiencies in reaching those goals. "
There was a financial problem
Sharing the information that these lines were stopped due to financial difficulties, İmamoğlu said, “When there is a financial problem, things do not work. "When we arrived, we saw that the main reason for the halting of the lines was the lack of financing." İmamoğlu used the following statements in the continuation of his speech:
“There is also such a character in the subways: It is clear that our subways with high initial costs can be made with absolute medium and long term borrowings and their feasibility as required by IMM's budget. In Istanbul, where such a large metro network is targeted, there is no chance of doing this with the city's existing annual budgets. So to speak, you can only manage this with debt models such as 10-15 years, if only longer. Since these works were not completed with the contracting part of the contractor firm with the project, financing and tender on time, we took over such a delayed process. "
ISSUING BONDS IS A HIGHLY VALUABLE ECONOMIC SUCCESS
“We had attempts to provide financing quickly. We have obtained project financing projects. Our most recent bond issue is, in fact, a very valuable economic success. Despite economic difficulties experienced by today's Turkey, we've dealt with this financing as Istanbul, we provide our lines to act quickly; We have created an Istanbul city that sees the future. "
NOW WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE PEOPLE OF SANCAKTEPE
“Today we can talk very comfortably on some issues. Especially in terms of planning, I would like to say the following part: We said; Yes, it is important to complete all our lines. Let's set a calendar for this; But if we can open it, section by section, let's ease people by putting some lines into service. For example, if we talk for this place; It is very valuable to target the line between Çekmeköy and Sancaktepe City Hospital at the beginning of 2023. I hope it will be a few months ago. It gets faster. Why? It is a valuable good news that it has a City Hospital and connects Sancaktepe and Çekmeköy with a rail system. Hopefully, we would like to announce the partial opening of this line, which we plan to complete for 2024, to the people of Sancaktepe. "
WE ARE IN INTENSIVE WORK IN THE İNCİRLİ - BEYLİKDÜZÜ LINE
“Sabiha Gökçen I am very excited about - Halkalı We hope to prepare our Hızray project between the companies for the tender process as the star of 2021. My friends are making an intense effort to ensure that all processes run smoothly. It continues rapidly on our Pendik - Kaynarca line. Likewise, we are working intensively in the west of Istanbul within the Incirli - Beylikdüzü Line. It is almost 18 years old, and I hope that we will do it in 2021. We promise this with our determination and valuable colleagues. We would like to see contractor companies as close partners with us. The city of Istanbul is one of the most prestigious cities in the world. Istanbul has a high capacity. We give an example of municipality with a transparent management approach that suits him, and includes participatory elements from all segments of the society. What we talk to and aim for with friends; We wish to be a period that brings 20 km of metro per year to Istanbul residents. During this period, the annual metro that Istanbul has achieved so far is almost three times periodically. I hope we will achieve this together. "
PELİN ALPKÖKİN: "WE WILL FINISH THE FIRST STAGE OF OUR PROJECT AT THE BEGINNING OF 2023"
Speaking at the ceremony, IMM Rail Systems Department Head Assoc. Dr. Pelin Alpkökin also gave information about the line. Reminding that the project is one of the most important projects of the Anatolian side and discontinued in 2017, Alpkökin continued as follows:
“Our line consists of 10,9 km and 8 stations. However, as we know that the need in the region is very important, we divided this line into stages and worked intensively for the first part. We will start working on the second part very soon. Our first part; From Çekmeköy to Sancaktepe City Hospital, there is a 3,9-kilometer section with 3 stations. Currently, we continue to dig our main line tunnels from Sancaktepe. Our capacity will carry 60 thousand passengers per hour in one direction and will pass through 3 districts. We expect this TBM to reach Sancaktepe City Hospital within a few months. In the first place, we excavated 8 meters a day. After that, it will get even faster. We will finish the first phase of our project at the beginning of 2023. We aim to finish the other part by the beginning of 2024. "
After the speeches, İmamoğlu and other protocol members started the 2nd TBM excavation of Çekmeköy - Sancaktepe - Sultanbeyli Metro Line by pressing the buttons placed on the stage.
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