Istanbul Rail Crossing Opens Bids for Northern Bosphorus Route
Türkiye has moved the Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project into an active international procurement process, allowing contractors to submit proposals for the main civil, rail and electrification works.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure’s Directorate General of Infrastructure Investments, the project’s implementing agency, issued the tender on July 21, 2026. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development procurement notice was last updated on August 3, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s project record lists a procurement-plan entry dated August 25.
Proposals are due October 14, 2026, at 2:30 p.m. Ankara time. Technical proposals are scheduled to be opened publicly at 2:45 p.m. The financial proposals will remain sealed while the technical submissions are evaluated. No contractor has been selected, and the project is not under construction.
What the tender covers
The Request for Proposals uses a single-stage, two-envelope design-build process. Eligible companies may bid for one or more of four lots covering infrastructure, superstructure and electrification.
The procurement package includes 122.3 kilometers of double-track main line and 4.7 kilometers of single-track connections. It also covers five tunnel-boring-machine sections totaling 36.2 kilometers, 22 double-track New Austrian Tunneling Method tunnels totaling 23.3 kilometers, 17 cut-and-cover tunnels totaling 3.7 kilometers, two viaducts and 40 bridges totaling 22.1 kilometers, along with stations and related works.
Signalling and telecommunications are not included in this procurement and will be tendered separately.
A northern route around Istanbul
The planned railway would run from Çayırova on the Asian side to Çatalca on the European side. The four lots include corridors serving Sabiha Gökçen Airport and Istanbul Airport. The line would cross the Bosphorus using rail space on the existing Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and bypass Istanbul’s metropolitan core.
The project is designed for mixed passenger and freight use. The broader project description used by the financing institutions is approximately 127 kilometers, while the current tender specifies 122.3 kilometers of double-track main line plus 4.7 kilometers of single-track connections. The tender does not establish an immediate passenger service or confirm a final operating timetable.
The World Bank projects that, once operational, rail freight capacity across the Bosphorus could increase from about 3 million tons a year to as much as 50 million tons. That is an institutional forecast, not an operating result. The World Bank has also estimated the total project cost at approximately $8.3 billion and said six multilateral development banks are coordinating about $6.75 billion in financing alongside Turkish government counterpart funding.
Why the next milestone matters
The October 14 deadline gives contractors, residents, businesses and observers a clear next test of the project. If bids are received and contracts are later awarded, the railway could add a high-capacity Europe-Asia rail crossing and provide a northern freight route around Istanbul’s congested center.
For communities across Istanbul and Kocaeli, the immediate practical questions are more likely to involve land, access, construction traffic, noise, vibration and environmental mitigation than changes to daily rail service. AIIB classifies the project as Category A because of its scale, extensive tunneling and civil works, potential land acquisition and other environmental and social risks.
Environmental and social instruments have already been prepared for the project, including an environmental and social impact assessment, management plan, stakeholder engagement plan, labor procedures, resettlement framework and environmental and social commitment plan. During implementation, selected design-build contractors must update and finalize relevant instruments, including site-specific plans for biodiversity, excavated materials, land acquisition, cultural heritage, labor and community safety, as the final engineering design is developed.
The immediate change is procedural but consequential: the main works are now open to international competition. The next confirmed milestone is the public opening of technical proposals on October 14, 2026.
Sources
- EBRD procurement notice for the Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project
- AIIB project record for Türkiye’s Istanbul North Rail Crossing
- World Bank financing announcement
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