Marmaray

Marmaray is a 76.6 km-long intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. It comprises a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait and the modernization of existing suburban railway lines along the Sea of Marmara from Halkalı on the European side to Gebze on the Asian side. The procurement of new rolling stock for suburban passenger traffic is also part of the project. Construction started in 2004, with an initial target opening date of April 2009. After multiple delays caused by the discovery of historical and archaeological sites, the first phase of the project opened on October 29, 2013. It is the first standard gauge rail connection between Europe and Asia. The second phase of the project was scheduled to open in 2015, but work was stopped in 2014. Work was restarted in February 2017 and the full line opened on March 12, 2019. ()