Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer announced that they are planning on starting the construction works next year and commissioning Buca Subway in five years and thanked the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for authorizing this investment.

“We were only waiting for a signature; as we have it now, we are giving a start to this project right away. We are going to finance the project with international loans and we do not claim even a penny from the government budget. Our plan is to complete the financing negotiations in approximately six months and organize an international tender and then start the construction in 2020. We will open the subway in five years” said Tunç Soyer.

The project was approved by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Directorate General for Infrastructure Investments on December 28, 2017 but we were waiting for the approval from the Section of Strategy and Budget of the Presidency. Now, the Presidency of the Republic has approved the investments to be financed with international loans. 

The 13.5-kilometer long Buca Subway and its 11 stations will be constructed with deep tunnel technique (TBM/NATM) using a TBM machine and thus the possible traffic, social life and infrastructure problems that might be experienced during the tunnel construction will be minimized.

The project will have total in door area of 80 thousand m2 and the designed Maintenance Workshop and Depot Building will be also built. This two-floor building will have overnight facilities on the ground floor and the top floor will be used as maintenance and repair floor. Besides, the administrative offices and personnel areas will be on the top floor. The train sets operated in this line will be driverless.