TURKEY: Plans to build a 26·8 km metro line in Kocaeli were announced by Turkey’s Minister of Transport & Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on March 20, ahead of local elections scheduled for March 31.
Speaking at the inauguration of a 3·1 km tram line in Izmit, the centre of the Kocaeli municipality, Uraloğlu said the ministry would be funding the planned Körfezray metro, for which a tender would be called later this year. The line is intended to link Körfez in the west to Kartepe in the east.
Trams to the hospital
The new tram branch with five stops links Izmit’s main hospital at Şehir Hastanesi to a junction with the existing Akçaray tramway in Mustafa Kemal Bulevar. A triangular junction east of Mehmet Ali Paşa stop allows trams from the branch to continue in both directions, towards Kuruçeşme or Otogar.
Six companies had participated in the tender for civil works and the supply, installation and commissioning of electromechanical systems, which was held by Turkey’s General Directorate of Infrastructure Investments AYGM in 2022. The TL525m winning bid was submitted by Eze İnşaat, which had also won, either directly or through a partner, two previous tenders that were cancelled following legal action by a rival bidder.
To work the expanded network, Kocaeli municipality ordered a further 10 trams from Bozankaya, signing a TL697m contract in April 2023. The first two vehicles were unveiled on March 19, with Mayor Tahir Büyükakın explaining that the city planned to introduce coupled tram operation from the end of this year. This will require the platforms at the stops to be lengthened.
Alikahya stadium next
During the opening celebrations for the hospital branch, the municipality confirmed that work had already started on another 3·8 km extension of the Akçaray tram line. This will run from the main bus station at Otogar to the Alikahya stadium, which is home to Turkish first league club Kocaelispors.
Büyükakın said the extension would be built in two phases, with three stops in each; the whole line is expected to be complete by July 2025.
