Spanish company OHL Construction has suspended works on Turkey’s Marmaray Project, Gebze-Haydarpaşa, Sirkeci- Halkalı Commuter Rail Upgrading (CR3), according to local press.  The decision was taken due to project costs rise.

OHL (70%) – former Invensys Rail (30%) joint venture was awarded the EUR 1,042 million contract in 2011, followinf a re-tendering process.  CR3 project was initially awarded (in 2007) as CR1 to AMD consortium, formed of Alstom, Marubeni and Dogusas. However, the contract was terminated in April 2010 with little construction works having been completed.

The project comprises upgrading of the 63 kilometre length of the commuter rail system through the Metropolitan Istanbul areas on either side of the Istanbul Strait, an inter city (IC) passenger service and a freight link between the European and Asian sides of the city.

Works include the replacement of the existing two tracks with 3 new tracks, 36 new and upgraded surface stations, replacement and new construction of approximately 130 cross corridor highway, pedestrian and river structures (over and underpasses and bridges), 2 fully operational Operation Control Centres (OCC) for CR and IC operations, new stabling yards, workshops and maintenance facilities for CR and IC train sets, renewal of all electro-mechanical systems for the complete 77 kilometre Marmaray Project length including the provision of 2 new and the upgrading of 4 existing traction power sub-stations, the overhead catenary systems, the signalling systems, a telecommunication system, a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and an automatic fare collection system, all necessary testing and commissioning, 2 years maintenance (expandable to 5 years) and training and support functions.

photo: panoramio.com