Özgür Soy, General Manager of Metro Istanbul, Turkey's largest urban rail system operator, and Hakan Orhun, Deputy General Manager for Businesses, were guests of the "Gendem Special" program broadcast live on GS TV.
General Manager Özgür Soy, who made important statements about the improvement works related to the transportation of Ali Sami Yen Sports Complex Türk Telekom Stadium, said, “The metro has a special importance for Galatasaray's stadium. There is a valley on one side of the stadium and a highway on the other. This is both good and bad. When there is a match in the stadium, it does not paralyze the city traffic like other stadiums. On the other hand, there are some restrictions on transportation to the stadium. Half of the 36-37 thousand people who come on match days use the metro. They use our Seyrantepe station. M2 Yenikapı-Hacıosman Metro Line is one of the oldest metro lines in Istanbul. Seyrantepe is not a station on this line. Seyrantepe is actually a warehouse built in the form of a protrusion from that line. It was designed as a warehouse where metro vehicles are stored and maintained in the evenings, and later this place was converted into a station with the stadium. On match day, the density of this place is 10 times the normal day. We make a special arrangement on match days. It is working at full capacity. We work with a capacity of 5 passengers every 2.000 minutes on match days. This corresponds to a capacity of 1 passengers in 24.000 hour. Even when the stadium is completely full, the stadium can be emptied completely in 60 minutes," he said.
“We will reduce the time the stadium is completely empty from 1 hour to 40 minutes”
Reminding that Galatasaray Sports Club President Burak Elmas visited Metro Istanbul in the past days, General Manager Soy said, “We toured the metro area and stations with Mr. President and club managers. We came together to the stadium. We planned all the joint activities that could be done there together and started our work in a warm communication. We plan match days together, we take precautions together. We increase the number of security accordingly. We want to increase the comfort and capacity a little more. We have works to reduce the emptying time of the stadium from 1 hour to approximately 40 minutes with a scissor investment to be made. We want to set up a system in which they can come from Yenikapı to Seyrantepe, while also eliminating the transfer at the Sanayi Mahallesi station, and on the way back, they can get on and go as far as Yenikapı. Metro Istanbul is here as a friend of the fans. We are open to listening to your complaints and requests. We exist to ensure their comfort. We make our plans on match days in close cooperation with Galatasaray Sports Club management and stadium officials. After getting off the metro, we will manage the area together until we reach the stadium. We will also work together to prevent the sale of illegal products there. We will try to make the match day more enjoyable," he said.
“We are working to ensure that the fans reach the stadium with maximum enjoyment”
Metro Istanbul Deputy General Manager for Operations Hakan Orhun, on the other hand, underlined that the days when the matches are played on a weekday or on the weekend have different effects, and said, “There are very different statistics whether it is played on a Monday or Friday or on a Saturday-Sunday. We, as two new administrations, came together with the administration of Metro Istanbul and Galatasaray. Here we have identified some actions on how to improve them. We have improvement plans based on the number of fans and when they will come. Metro Istanbul has more than 9.000 cameras. We take quick actions by monitoring the situation on the platforms through these cameras. We act in such a way as to ensure that the fans reach the stadium with maximum enjoyment. There are voyages every 7 and a half minutes on the Sanayi Mahallesi - Seyrantepe line. It has a capacity of 15.200 people per hour. This capacity is sufficient when coming to the stadium on the match day. We do not encounter very large agglomerations. Even if there is a backlog, we take action immediately. We have two platforms for the post-match. One of them will continue from Seyrantepe to Yenikapı. The other platform will shuttle between Seyrantepe and Sanayi Mahallesi. In this way, we achieve a 25 percent improvement and increase to a capacity of 20.000 passengers per hour. Trains leave just in time. Therefore, the fans should not force the doors of the trains whose doors are closed. We are working and will work with all our strength to carry these services to a much better place”.
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