Azerbaijan, Baku, 25 June / Trend / European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will allocate € 217mln to construct the railway 'Marmaray' project, which will cross via Turkey and will linkt Europe and Asia, Azertaj reported referring to its correspondent in Turkey.
The loan agreement will be signed on 26 June. The loan will be allocate for 30 years period and would be paid by preferential terms within five years. The loan is allocated to construct the part of the railway Gabza-Heydarpasha and Sirkachi-Khalkali in Turkey.
Marmaray project will cross across the Bosphorus strait, later it would be connected with the railway Baku-Tbilisi-Kars corridor. Construction of the Marmaray project started in May 2004. The project includes a 13.6 km Bosphorus crossing and the upgrade of 63 km of suburban train lines to create a 76.3 km high capacity line between Gebze and Halkalı.
The Japan Bank has provided major financing for the project. A consortium Eurasia was also formed.
The Marmaray Project requires the construction of a tunnel under the Istanbul Strait. The tunnel will be the deepest immersed structure in the world, some 55m below sea level. Its length is 13.6km (8.5 miles) long with 9.8km of bored tunnel; 2.4km built using cut-and-cover methods and the remaining 1.4km as a tube tunnel.
The Marmaray Project will generally aid the development of the railway system in Turkey, Europe and Asia by providing uninterrupted passenger transportation.
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