Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund and Turkey are in talks for a Bosphorus railway project as part of a trade corridor linking Europe to the Middle East and Asia.
The railway would cross the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, one of the longest and widest bridges of its kind in the world, built with a USD 3 billion investment under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to link the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
The railway is part of a series of potential agreements between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. In July this year, the government in Abu Dhabi pledged USD 51 billion to support Turkey’s economy, which is now going through a difficult period after earthquakes in February this year.
In a press release, the UAE government expressed hope that trade with Turkey would double to USD 40 billion by 2030 and that key sectors for investment include energy, logistics, tourism and agriculture.
Thanks to its strategic location between Europe and Asia and control over access to the Black Sea, Turkey is seeking to become a crucial part of a trade corridor linking London and Beijing. The government in Ankara hopes to link Gulf countries to its road and rail network.
Bosphorus railway project alongside the existing rail tunnel
Three bridges and two tunnels currently link the banks of the Bosphorus strait. The European and Asian sides of Istanbul are also connected by rail via the Marmaray Tunnel. It connects the two districts of Istanbul, Kazlıçeșme on the European side and Ayrılıkçeșme on the Asian side and has a total length of 13.6 km, of which 1.4 km is under water. Opened in 2013 as part of the Marmaray project, the tunnel connected the high-speed rail systems of the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
The Yavuz Sultan Selim road and rail bridge, over which the new railway would cross, is located at the northern end of the strait on the Black Sea coast. It is 1,408 m long and was completed in 2016.
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