Both local and international companies have shown a great interest in the tender bidding for the planned three-story Grand Istanbul Tunnel, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Cahit Turhan confirmed yesterday.

"We plan to announce that the tender bidding will be held in the coming days among companies that would finance the project," Turhan said.

Turhan talked to the media at the opening of the 4th International Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels Trade Fair held in the Congresium Ankara.

The minister pointed out that the number of companies interested in the project increased with the normalization of the global financial markets and that they completed the project works and preliminary preparations for the tender.

The three-story Grand Istanbul Tunnel Project, which will cross the Bosporus Strait, will consist of a metro line as well as a dual motorway. The two-lane railway will run in both directions through the middle of the tunnel and a dual highway will enable rubber-wheeled vehicles to travel on highway lanes below and above the railway. The first of its kind in terms of both size and concept, the first stage of this project will consist of a high capacity fast metro system that will start from İncirli, on the E-5 axis on the European Side and reach Söğütlüçeşme on the Anatolian Side through the Bosporus Strait. The project's second stage will consist of a dual highway in each direction, beginning at the Hasdal intersection located on the TEM highway axis on the European side and connect at the Çamlık intersection on the Anatolian side.

It will take 40 minutes to go from İncirli on Istanbul's European side to Söğütlüçeşme on the Anatolian side through a 31-kilometer high-speed subway line consisting of 14 stations when the projects begin operating.