Turkey is close to an agreement with the World Bank to finance a $4 billion railway project across the Bosphorus strait, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.
“We are very close to finalization” for as much as $3 billion or €3 billion, Uraloglu told Bloomberg, adding that technical details of the loan package are still being negotiated.
Once finalized, Turkey will likely hold an auction for the project’s construction together with the World Bank, potentially in the early months of 2025, he said.
Turkey had held talks with the United Arab Emirates to finance the project, following a $51 billion pledge by the Gulf country to invest in Turkey. Uraloglu has previously said the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank could also provide financing.
The railway would cross the Yavuz Sultan Selim suspension bridge, one of the longest and widest of its kind in the world, which was built for $3 billion under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to link Istanbul’s European and Asian sides. Erdogan has been promoting the new rail project as part of the so-called Development Road project from Iraq to Europe.
