ISTANBUL’s municipal council has approved plans to borrow €871.2m to finance the acquisition of 422 cars that will be deployed on two extensions to the city’s metro network. The money will be raised through a combination of external and domestic borrowing, issuing bonds locally and on the international markets, and other financial instruments.
The plan allocates €571.2m to acquire 272 metro cars for the 9.7km extension of Line M1B on the European side of Istanbul, running from Kirazli to Halkali. With nine stations, the extension will serve the densely-populated districts of Bagcilar and Kucukcekmece.
A total of €300m has been allocated to purchase 150 cars for the 11km Cekmekoy - Sultanbeyli extension of the driverless Line M5 on the Asian side of Istanbul, where the first 6.5km section from Cekmekoy to Samandira Merkez entered service on March 16 2024.
When fully completed, the extension will bring the metro to the rapidly-growing suburb of Sultanbeyli, where public transport demand has increased sharply in recent years.
Metro Istanbul currently operates a 380km network, with 87km of new lines now under construction. The municipality’s long-term expansion strategy sets a target of growing the network to 717km.
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