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Public transport in Istanbul comprises of an extensive bus network, various rail systems, funiculars and maritime services for the more than 10 million inhabitants of the city with an area of 5712 km².
Early days
Public road transport in Istanbul dates back to August 30, 1869, when a contract to build a tram system in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, was signed. With this agreement, Konstantin Krepano Efendi’s "Société des Tramways de Constantinople" obtained the concession to operate public transportation for forty years. The inauguration of four lines of horse-driven trams was in 1871. In the first year, the horsecars transported 4.5 million people on the lines Azapkapi-Galata, Aksaray-Yedikule, Aksaray-Topkapi and Eminönü-Aksaray. More lines were added in the following years. 430 horses were used to draw the 45 carriages, including 15 summer-type and some double-deckers, on meter gauge track. In 1912, the horse-drawn tram had to cease to operate for one year because the Ministry of Defense sent all the horses to the front during the Balkan War. The tram network was electrified by overhead contact wire on February 2, 1914. The tram began to run on the Anatolian part of Istanbul on June 8, 1928 between Üsküdar and Kisikli. By the 1950s, the length of the tram lines reached 130 km. The trams were on service on the European part until August 12, 1961 and on the Anatolian part until November 14, 1966.
The same time as the horsecar started to run, construction of the Tünel, a short funicular between Pera and Galata, began on July 30, 1871. The funicular opened to service on December 5, 1874, the second oldest subway in the world after the London underground. In the beginning, only goods and animals were transported. On January 17, 1875, after completing the test runs, the funicular was released to public transport, which is still in service.
Bus transport in Istanbul started in 1926 with four buses of make Renault-Scania between Beyazit and Karaköy. The fleet grew up from 9 buses in 1942 to 16 in 1955 and to 525 busses in 1960 and, then became the backbone of the public transport in ever enlarging city.
Several British and French companies operated all public transport in Istanbul until June 16, 1939, the date of nationalization. The newly established company IETT (Istanbul Electric Tram and Funicular Company) took over from then on the task of public transport in Istanbul.
On May 27, 1961 trolleybuses were put in service first between Topkapi and Eminönü following the disappearance of trams. However, they were taken out of the service some time later because they also hindered the growing traffic in the narrow streets of the old city.
Suburban railway was built on the European part from Sirkeci to Hadımköy in 1872, which was followed in 1873 on the Anatolian part from Haydarpaşa Terminal to Izmit.
Maritime public transport with ferryboats is one of the oldest in Istanbul, a city with two parts separated by Bosphorus strait and surrounded by sea. In 1837, British and Russian owned boats started transport on Bosphorus. Istanbul Maritime Company was established in 1851 by a decree of Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid. The ferry service began in 1853 with six paddle steamers built in Robert White shipyard in England. The service extended in 1859 to places around Golden Horn. After 1903 screw driven steamboats were put in service. While until 1929 boats were imported, the ferries were built later on in the shipyards in Golden Horn. The fleet grew up once to 40 boats.
In 1867, the same company started vehicle transport across Bosphorus between Kabataş and Üsküdar with two ferryboats purchased from England, being as the first scheduled ferry lines in the world.
Transportation today
Bus system
The bus fleet has 2,571 vehicles built by MAN (767), Ikarus (1,404), Mercedes-Benz (354), DAF/Optare (39) and Berkhof (7). The buses run daily about 448,000 km on around 468 lines with 7,889 bus-stops. 435 million people a year were transported in 2003, making a share of 14,2% of all the transportation in IstanbulSince 1985, private owned buses are allowed to operate under the audit of IETT. There are 1,366 private owned public buses, including 89 double-deckers.
Funicular (Tunnel)
It is the oldest line in Istanbul, which is 573 m long by an altitude difference of 60 m without any intermediate stations between Karaköy and Tünel. It is continuously on service since 1875. Two trains run on a single rail every 3.5 minutes and, a trip takes 1.5 minutes. 15,000 people are being transported daily.Light rail (Light metro)
It is a LRT system opened on September 3, 1989 between Aksaray and Kartaltepe. The line was further developed step by step and reached Atatürk Airport on December 20, 2002. There are 18 stations, including 6 underground and 3 viaduct stations, on the line of 19.3 km length. The line is totally segregated from other traffic without level crossings and runs underground for 4.4 km. 37 two-car sets transport 200,000 passengers a day. The investment cost US$ 550 million.(Hafif raylı sistem stations are: Havalimanı (Atatürk International Airport), Dünya Ticaret Merkezi, Yenibosna, Ataköy, Bahçelievler, Bakırköy, Zeytinburnu, Merter, Davutpaşa, Terazidere, Otogar/Esenler, Kartaltepe, Sağmalcılar, Bayrampaşa, Ulubatlı, Emniyet, Aksaray)
Metro
The construction of the underground railway in Istanbul began in 1992.The first line between Taksim and 4th Levent went into service on September 16, 2000. This line is 8.5 km long and has 6 stations, which all look similar but are in different colors. Currently there are 8 French built 4-car trains in service, which run every 5 minutes on average and transport 130,000 passengers daily. A trip along the entire line takes 12 minutes. The entire subway was built by the cut-and-cover method to withstand an earthquake of up to 9.0 on the Richter magnitude scale (Metro stations are: 4.Levent, Levent, Gayrettepe, Şişli, Osmanbey, Taksim)
The second section of the metro from Taksim to Yenikapı, across the Golden Horn on a bridge and underground through the old city, is under construction. It will be 5.4 km long with 4 stations. At Yenikapı it will intersect with the extended light metro and with the suburban train. Later it will be extended northwards from 4th Levent to Ayazaga, which is expected to be finished in February 2006.
Heritage tram
By the end of 1990, the historic tram was put in service again along İstiklal Caddesi between Taksim and Tünel, which is a single 1.6 km-long line.
On November 1, 2003, another vintage tram line was reopened on the Anatolian part of Istanbul between Kadıköy and Moda. It has 10 stations on a route of 2.6 km in length. The trip takes 21 minutes. 641,000 people were transported by the nostalgic tram in 2003.
Tram
A fast tram was put in service in 1992 on standard gauge track with modern cars, connecting Sirkeci with Topkapi. The line was extended on one end from Topkapi to Zeytinburnu in March 1994 and, on the other end from Sirkeci to Eminönü in April 1996. On January 30, 2005 it was extended from Sirkeci to Kabataş crossing Golden Horn after 44 years again. The line has 24 stations on a length of 14 km. 55 vehicles built by ABB run on the line. An entire trip takes 42 minutes. The daily transport capacity is 155,000 passengers. The amount of investment totaled to US$ 110 million.(Hızlı Tramway stations are: Zeytinburnu, Mithatpaşa, Akşemsettin, Seyitnizam, Merkezefendi, Cevizlibağ, Topkapı, Pazartekke, Çapa, Fındıkzade, Haseki, Yusufpaşa, Aksaray, Laleli (Üniversite), Beyazıt (Kapalıçarşı), Çemberlitaş, Sultanahmet, Gülhane, Sirkeci, Eminönü (ferryboats), Karaköy, Tophane, Fındıklı, Kabataş)
Between Taksim and Kabatas, the construction of an underground funicular is underway to connect this line to metro in Taksim.
Suburban train
It is a railway line between the main train station of the European part Sirkeci and Halkali with 18 stations on its length of 30 km. The trip takes 48 minutes. Another suburban line runs on the Anatolian part from the main train station Haydarpaşa to Gebze. The 44 km long line has 28 stations and the trip takes 65 minutes. On both suburban lines electrified trains operate and transport 13,000 passengers hourly on each line.Ferryboat
Ferryboats sail on 15 lines serving 27 seaports on the shores of Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara. The 20 old-fashioned ferryboats carry today 61 million passengers yearly. In the 1980’s 150 million people were transported. For modernization purposes, the Maritime Co. was overhanded in 2005 to IDO, which operates the sea buses in Istanbul. A jeton for a short trip to the other side (Eminönü/Karaköy-Kadiköy/Üsküdar) costs 1 YTL.Sea bus
On April 16, 1987 the Municipality of Istanbul established a company to provide fast sea transport with catamaran type sea buses. With the first 10 vessels purchased from Norway, modernization of sea transportation was achieved. Today, the company IDO serves 29 terminals with a fleet of 28 catamarans, including 6 fast carferries.Cable car
There is a short gondola lift line above the Democracy Park in the valley between Taksim and Maçka built in 1993. It connects the hotels Istanbul Hilton on one side with Parksa Hilton and Swissotel The Bosphorus on the other side. The cable line is 333 m long and transports in two cabins with 6 seats around 1,000 passengers daily. The trip takes 3 minutes.A second cable car line was opened in 2005 between the historical district of Eyup and the Pierre Loti cafe on the top of the hill.
Projects
Marmaray
Marmaray is the name of a project to link the European and Anatolian halves of Istanbul by an undersea rail tunnel across the Bosphorus strait. The name Marmaray (Marmara Rail) comes from combining the name of the Sea of Marmara, which lies just south of the project site, with ray, the Turkish word for rail.
See also
Rahmi M. Koç Museum
External links
"Public transport in Istanbul"