TURKEY: Istanbul municipality has been given the go-ahead by the city’s governor to develop the planned 21 km Üsküdar – Kadıköy – Maltepe tram line, following a ruling that no environmental impact assessment would be required for the project.
Construction is expected to start before the end of this year for completion by the end of 2027 at an expected cost of around TL8·5bn.
The line will run mainly along a coastal highway, replacing existing bus services. It will have 33 stops, offering interchanges with the Marmaray suburban rail line at Üsküdar, Söğütlüçeşme, Göztepe, Bostancı and Maltepe, with the M5 metro line at Üsküdar, with the M4 metro line and T3 tramway at Kadıköy, with the M8 metro line at Bostancı and with the planned M12 metro line at Göztepe and Sahrayıcedit.
The first phase of operations will require 55 tram which are expected to be procured while construction is under way.
Ancillary work will include the rebuilding of Kadıköy harbour square, which is a major transport hub, and the removal of the existing bus station.
Possible reconciliation
The approval of the tram line by the Governor, who is appointed by the national government in Ankara, appears to herald a new era of transport co-operation between the national government of President Tayyip Erdogan and the opposition-controlled Istanbul municipality.
In recent years the two have been at odds over transport plans for the city, with the national transport ministry seizing control of a number of urban rail projects and rebranding them with the capital letter U, to differentiate them from the municipally controlled metro system, branded with a capital M.
