TURKEY: A 12 km long tram extension opened in İzmir’s Çiğli district on January 27 with a ceremony attended by Mayor Tunç Soyer.
Services run in both directions around the ring, meeting at the northern terminus at Katip Çelebi Üniversitesi. The Çiğli tramway serves 14 stops including the Çiğli Devlet Hastanesi hospital. The loop meets the existing Karşıyaka tram line at Ataşehir Kavşağı, and interchange with the Izban suburban rail service is provided at Çiğli station.
Works included the construction of a 750 m long tram and bicycle viaduct above the city’s main road bypass. It is served by a one-stop extension of the Karşıyaka tramway.
Construction took three years; the project cost was €183m.
The Tram Çiğli route is operated by the city’s existing fleet of 28 Hyundai Rotem trams. However, operator İzmir Metro has called tenders for another 26 trams.
‘During my five-year term, we are investing €1·2bn the city’s urban rail network, which is approximately TL41bn on today’s exchange rate’, İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer said. ‘In a few weeks we will open the Narlıdere metro extension, an investment of €287m and dedicate it to the 100th anniversary of our republic. On January 9, we lowered the tunnel boring machines for the Buca metro. It is an investment of €765m’, he added.
