Contract confirmed for Istanbul urban transport
network

The Marmaray project is in three stages.  The first,
which began in 2004, is the construction of the tunnel underneath
the Bosphorus.  Phase two concerns the construction of new
lines and the refurbishment of existing ones, totalling 76.3km of
railway infrastructure.  Phase three, the tender for which
should be  launched during the second half of 2007, will be
for the supply of 440 suburban train cars.

For phase 2, Alstom, as consortium leader, will be responsible
for: the project coordination and general engineering, track
installation and electrification and signalling. Marubeni will
supply telecommunications, passenger information systems and
station and depot electro-mechanical equipment as well as
traction sub-stations.  Dogus will be responsible for the
civil engineering and station platforms.

With an entry into
commercial service planned for 2011, the 76,3km long line will
link Halkali, on the European bank of the Bosphorus, to the
suburb of Gebze, on the Asian bank and will connect with the
Istanbul urban transport network (metro and light metro). 
With a capacity of 75,000 passengers per hour in each direction,
this line will considerably reduce the traffic jams in this major
Turkish connurbation.