Erdogan Inaugurates 69-Kilometre Metro Line Connecting Istanbul Centre to Airport

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially opened the final section of a massive metro project connecting the heart of Istanbul to its main airport, creating one of the longest underground rail links in the world. The newly inaugurated 22-kilometre stretch between Halkalı and Arnavutköy completes a 69-kilometre line with 16 stations, stretching from the central Gayrettepe business district to Istanbul Airport.

Designed to bypass the city’s notorious traffic congestion, the high-speed line allows trains to reach speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour. The journey from Halkalı to the airport now takes approximately 30 minutes. The line directly serves around 1.5 million residents in the Başakşehir and Küçükçmece districts, while also integrating with the Marmaray cross-continental rail network and other major metro routes.

Erdogan described the project as a symbol of his vision to “weave” the sprawling metropolis of 16 million residents together with modern rail networks. The fully automated, driverless system features domestic signalling technology developed by the Turkish defence electronics firm Aselsan, underscoring Ankara’s push for greater technological independence. Official estimates project the metro line will generate economic benefits of approximately 935 million euros (1.1 billion US dollars) by 2043.