Tender to connect Esenboğa Airport to Ankara's city center to be held soon

Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan said that the integration of various types of transportation is "very important." Arslan said, "Projects to connect the Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen airports with the new Istanbul Third Airport and the city center with the rail system have begun. The first bids to connect Esenboğa Airport to the city center with a rail system will also be held in the first half of this year."

Minister Arslan told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the integration of different types of transportation is very important and "none of them are independent of the other."

Pointing out that they integrated transportation corridors, Arslan said that when investors invest in anything, they evaluate the integration of transportation types, accessibility and the ability to transport their products to other markets.

Arslan said that they have covered important ground in the aviation sector, emphasizing that it is important to connect airports to city centers via rail systems. Atatürk Airport is connected to the city center with a rail system. Arslan said that the project to link Sabiha Gökçen Airport to the Kadıköy-Kaynarca-Kartal subway line is still in progress, adding that they have also put the Keçiören subway line into service in Ankara.

According to Arslan, the tender that will link the 27-kilometer-long line to Esenboğa Airport will be held in the first quarter of the year, thus connecting both Esenboğa and Yıldırım Beyazıt University to the central rail system network in Ankara. Suggesting that this line will be further extended to Çubuk, Arslan said that the preparation works regarding this line have begun, adding that the bidding process to connect the line from the Ankara High-Speed Train Station to Kızılay will soon begin. "Hopefully, we will be extending the line to integrate the other rail systems within two years," Arslan noted.

Highlighting that they put the rail system into service in Antalya as part of EXPO in a record period of five-and-a-half months, Arslan said that Antalya Airport and Adnan Menderes Airport in İzmir are connected to the respective city centers with rail systems.

Suggesting that the Istanbul New Airport should be linked to the city center with a rail system, Arslan said that following the conclusion of the tender for the 34-kilometer-long line from Gayrettepe to the new airport, the site delivery process was completed and the work has begun.

The new airport will be connected from Halkalı to the main spine with the rail system, Minister Arslan said, adding that they will also be linked to the other rail systems within the city so that people can go wherever they want by changing trains after they leave the airport.