MURAT YILDIRIM IN THE ARABIC MAGAZINES Istanbul | Page 48

Osmanbey subway station.

Map of the Istanbul rail transit network. (Not including some of the Subway lines currently under construction).

Construction works of the Istanbul Metro (M2) began in 1992 and the first completed section between Taksim and 4. Levent entered service on 16 September 2000.This section of the line is 8.5 km (5.3 mi) long and has 6 stations. In 2000, there were 8 Alstom-built 4-car train sets in service, which ran every 5 minutes on average and transported 130,000 passengers daily. On 30 January 2009, the first train sets built by Eurotem entered service.Eurotem will build a total of 92 new wagons for the M2 line. As of 30 January 2009, a total of 34 train sets, each with 4 cars, were being used on the M2 line.

A northern extension from 4. Levent to Maslak was opened on 30 January 2009.The southern extension of the M2 line from Taksim to Yenikap, across the Golden Horn on a bridge and underground through the historic peninsula, has thus far been completed up to the ihane station in Beyolu, which also entered service on 30 January 2009. At Yenikap the M2 network will intersect with the extended light metro and suburban train lines, and with the Marmaray tunnel.

At present, the M2 line has 10 stations in service on the European side of the city; while 6 new stations on the European side and 16 new stations on the Asian side are currently under construction. The trip between the ihane station in Beyolu and the Atatürk Oto Sanayi station in Maslak is 15.65 km (9.7 mi) long and takes 21 minutes.The total length of the European side of the M2 line will reach 18.36 km (11.4 mi) when all 16 stations from Hacosman to Yenikap will be completed;[not including the 936 metres long Golden Horn metro bridge, the 0.6 km long Taksim-Kabata tunnel connection with the Seabus port,the 0.6 km long Yenikap-Aksaray tunnel connection with the LRT network.