The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry and the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning will spend some TL 4.34 billion on urban rail systems this year.
According to the government's 2019 Investment Program, TL 4.33 billion will be used by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, while the Environment and Urban Planning Ministry will spend TL 7.8 million on urban transportation.
In the presidential decree for the Investment Program, published in the Official Gazette earlier this week, the transport and communications sector received the lion's share of public investments with TL 20.3 billion.
Meanwhile, around TL 2.78 billion has been allocated for Istanbul Airport rail system connections, identified as the most important among a total of 10 projects. The first phase of the airport officially opened last October. Once completed, it will be the world's largest international airport, covering 76.5 million square meters and potentially handling 90 million passengers annually. Following the second phase of construction, which should be completed by 2023, this number will rise to around 200 million. The airport will operate flights to over 300 destinations worldwide. The Transport and Infrastructure Ministry has finalized rail system works on Istanbul's Ayrılıkçeşmesi-Kazlıçeşme and Levent-Hisarüstü lines; Ankara's Kızılay-Çayyolu, Batıkent-Sincan and AKM-Keçiören lines, and the rail systems connecting the city of Antalya to the airport.
The ministry has also accelerated works to commission a number of urban rail systems, including the Sabiha Gökçen-Kaynarca, Gayrettepe and Halkalı to Istanbul Airport, and the Gebze-Halkalı routes.
