TOKYO

It is only days now to the inauguration of Marmaray rail transport project in Turkey's Istanbul, which consists of the construction of an undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait.

"This project has significance for the pride of Turkish people, because this is a dream that comes true, the dream to connect Asia and Europe, a dream since the Ottoman Empire," said Satoru Ogata, Executive Vice President of TAISEI, a Japanese corporation involved in the Bosphorus undersea tunnel.

Being a modern, high capacity commuter rail system, Marmaray will start operating on October 29th, the day which marks the 90th anniversary of Turkish Republic. 

"This underground subway will benefit the lives of Turkish people," Ogata told Anadolu Agency in Japanese capital Tokyo, "because it will contribute to the solution of the road congestion, which is a chronic problem for the country at the moment."

Stating that the project could make a huge contribution to Turkish economy, Ogata said, "This construction work contributes to the advancement of the civil engineering industry of Turkey."

"Not only TAISEI, but also Japanese people are very proud of being able to participate in such a historic and significant work."

Japan and Turkish civil engineering industry collaborated successfully to build a tunnel that required very difficult work, said Ogata adding the project proved the countries in the region that they could achieve 'excellent work'. 

Marmaray will connect Halkali on the European side with Gebze on the Asian side with an uninterrupted commuter rail system. 

Providing a direct railway connection between Asia and Europe, Marmaray will also reduce travel time and increase comfort for a large number of commuter rail passengers.

Its construction, however, took longer than expected as a cultural fill layer was excavated by archaeologists. In the upper layers, architectural findings from the Ottoman period were encountered while the subsequent layer contained structures and small artefacts from the Byzantine period. Then Roman architecture and artefacts were unearthed. The last layer took 6 months for the archaeologists to excavate, understand and remove. This layer belonged to the colonial period of Istanbul.

englishnews@aa.com.tr