TURKEY: Antalya Metropolitan Municipality opened the third stage of AntiRay light rail route T3 on October 25, offering a week of free travel before the start of revenue operations at the end of the month.
The 24 km line links Varsak in the north of the city with Antalya’s internationally renowned archaeology museum via 27 intermediary stops.
The first 13 km from Varsak to Kepez was completed in March 2019, along with the depot near the Varsak terminus. A short extension to Ataturk followed in August 2019.
The 11 km third phase runs from Ataturk to Muze, adding nine stops. Interchange is provided at the main bus station with route T1a-T1b, providing connections to the airport east of the city, two main hospitals and the university. At its Muze terminus, T3 connects with heritage tram route T2 which runs for nine stops parallel with the coastal road above the city’s main tourist beach. This is due to be upgraded to full light rail standards.
The line has been constructed by Makyol Insaat which submitted the lowest bid of TL697 million in a tender held in 2018. The work included one underground station, where the route passes beneath T1 at Otogar, together with both bored and cut and cover tunnel sections. There are also a main road underpass and several pedestrian bridges. Survey, consultancy and project supervision services were provided by Boğaziçi Proje AŞ, which also oversaw the rolling stock procurement. Test running on the third phase began in July.
