Line M11, officially referred to as the M11 Gayrettepe–Istanbul Airport–Halkalı Metro Line (), is a line of the

Istanbul Metro The Istanbul Metro () is a rapid transit railway network that serves the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Apart from the M11 line, which is operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, the system is operated by Metro Istanbul, a public enterprise controlled by th ...

. , it is operational between Gayrettepe and Arnavutköy Hastane via

Istanbul Airport Istanbul Airport is the larger of two international airports serving Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the Arnavutköy district on the European side of the city. It is the largest airport in Turkey, the largest privately-owned airport in the ...

. The line is currently long, making it the longest line in the Istanbul Metro. The M11 is entirely underground, making it the second longest continuous subway tunnel in Europe, behind the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...

Bolshaya Koltsevaya line The Bolshaya Koltsevaya line () (English: Big Circle Line) (Line 11; Teal Line) is a rapid transit line of the Moscow Metro system in Moscow, Russia. It is the third circle line on the system, running outside of the existing circle Koltsevaya line ...

Route

The purpose of this line is to provide direct and quick access from

Arnavutköy Arnavutköy ( ' Albanian village'; ) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,574 (2022). It is renowned for its wooden Ottoman mansions and seafood restaurants, as well a ...

Levent Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

, Istanbul's main commercial center and to Halkalı, one of the city's most important train stations. Unlike other metro lines, the M11 will be a limited stop service, meaning that stations will be spaced further apart. This is most noticeable towards the line's southern ends, where the M11 will only have seven stations within Istanbul's urban area: Halkalı, Halkalı Stadı, Olimpiyat, Kayaşehir and Fenertepe in the west and Gayrettepe and Kâğıthane in the east. It will have two legs, one from Gayrettepe to Istanbul Airport line and the second from Halkalı to Istanbul Airport line. The first leg of the rapid transit line will be long with nine stations. The second leg of the line will be long with seven stations, in a total of with sixteen stations. When fully completed, the M11 will be one of the longest continuous subway tunnels in the world. The travel time between the end stations will be 60 minutes at a maximum speed of . The line will run through six districts of Istanbul,

Şişli Şişli () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 10 km2, and its population is 276,528 (2022). Located on the European side of the city, it is bordered by Beşiktaş ...

Kağıthane Kağıthane (, also ''Kâğıthane''), formerly Sadâbad () and Glykà Nerà (Greek: Γλυκά Νερά, , 'sweet waters') is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 455,943 (2022). ...

Eyüpsultan Eyüpsultan or Eyüp () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 228 km2, and its population is 422,913 (2022). The district extends from the Golden Horn all the way to t ...

Başakşehir Başakşehir is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 107 km2, and its population is 514,900 (2022). It is in the European part of Istanbul. The district is home to İsta ...

and

Küçükçekmece Küçükçekmece (; meaning “small-drawer”, from much earlier ''Rhegion'' (Greek: Ρήγιον) and ''Küçükçökmece as “little breakdown''" or “''little depression''”, in more ancient times just as Bathonea), is a municipality and d ...

. It is expected that the line will carry annually around 94 million passengers. The M11 line will connect to other rapid transit lines:

Marmaray Marmaray () is a commuter rail line located in Istanbul, Turkey. The line runs from Halkalı, on the European side, to Gebze, on the Asian side, along the north shore of the Sea of Marmara. Mostly using the right-of-way of two existing com ...

, M1, M2, M3, M7 (twice), M9 and at the airport to the high-speed train line.

Construction

The investment budget of the construction is . The Turkish construction consortium Kolin-Şenbay won the tender for the building of the metro line in December 2016. The line was not scheduled to be completed before the airport's official 29 October 2018 airport opening. The line is being constructed in four sections: * Kağıthane–Istanbul Airport, opened on 22 January 2023 * Gayrettepe–Kağıthane, opened on 29 January 2024 * Arnavutköy Hastane–Istanbul Airport, opened on 19 March 2024 * Halkalı–Arnavutköy Hastane, planned to open in late 2025

Rolling stock

The

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

was manufactured by

CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., Ltd. is one of the electric locomotive manufacturers in China. It is one of the subsidiaries of CRRC. History Predecessor Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Works was founded in 1936. CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co., ...

, the first class automated metro train exported by China. 176 metro cars were supplied for the Line 11. The contract was awarded in January 2020, and the delivery was completed six months later, although these ten sets were not automated. On 3 January 2024 the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that 15 automated trainsets were ready to enter into use.

Stations

The M11 has sixteen stations. Out of these sixteen, only eight are within the Istanbul metropolitan area.

References

External links

Istanbul Airport Metro Information
{{coord missing, Turkey Istanbul Metro lines Transport infrastructure under construction in Turkey Şişli Eyüp Arnavutköy, Istanbul Railway lines opened in 2023 Airport rail links in Turkey