The Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has signed a preliminary agreement with six international financial institutions for external financing of EUR 5.7 billion (USD 6.75 billion) for the Istanbul North Rail Crossing project. The 125 km new line will run from Gebze in northern Istanbul via Sabiha Gökçen Airport, the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Istanbul Airport to Halkali. The Bosphorus crossing will be via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, creating a direct railway link between the two major airports for the first time. The project comprises 44 tunnels with a total length of 59.1 km and 42 bridges with a total length of 22.4 km and is designed to carry 33 million passengers and 30 million t of freight per year. The World Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Islamic Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the OPEC Fund for International Development are involved in the financing. The tender is currently being prepared, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026. The project aims to alleviate the capacity bottlenecks of the existing Bosphorus crossing via the Marmaray Tunnel, through which around 1.7 million t of goods were transported between 2020 and October 2025.
