The GIANT Metro Expansion You've Never Heard of | Istanbul Metro

[@mriz7258]

Istanbul is like Playing Cities skylines and you observe the insane traffic build up and decided to go crazy on Transit building.

[@barsgecgil3437]

Lmao it is exacty like that.

[@kadirgunay8380]

hahaha this is so true

[@alikeremklnc9707]

I couldn't imagine more correct and beautiful description man

[@ahmdexe4933]

istanbul traffic is insane

[@lUnderdogl]

Istanbul's population was around 8 mil in 2000. Now it is close to 20 mil with unregistered refuges etc.

[@shughes57]

I visited Istanbul in May this year and was blown away by the public transit. I took the tram (t1 and t2), cable car, gondola, metro (M2 and M1), bus, and multiple ferries with the same transit card. It was a great experience and over 8 days I never even bothered with a taxi.

[@RMTransit]

So awesome to hear!

[@deniz_dee]

Props for not relying on taxis as a tourist! The Istanbul transit system is pretty overwhelming for many people, including locals who don't need to commute much or domestic tourists. But it's a much faster way to travel around the city, and lets you experience the community better (not that they're necessarily the nicest people while stuck in the traffic) And the taxis try their best to operate like a cartel, not allowing fleet expansion by the city, denying passengers if they're not traveling far, or just because they are not wealthy tourists. The city has been trying to resolve the issue for a long time, but the drivers can still get away with a lot just because of the high demand from tourists. So yeah, thanks for every person not fueling the problem :)

[@samsadeniz]

They are all scammers. They overcharge tourists and refuse to carry locals.

[@fusionreactor7179]

@@deniz_dee Yea the Taxis are absolute demons. They genuienly need to be punished

[@h.u.2462]

@@deniz_dee fuel is now over 1.5 usd/liter and taxi owners are using the drivers who has to endure the heaviest traffic on earth as a slave with a very small wage...so give them a break...

[@ugurrr]

It's crazy that at least 2-3 lines were opened since this video was released and another one to be opened in a few days.

[@sercantor1]

belediyeciligin hastasiyiz

[@hksrm4172]

Nothing compares to Istanbul. It's not a city it's more of a country. Everything in one place, industry, tourism, education, commerce, luxury, poverty, natives, refugees. It's beutiful but also intimidating. Metro lines are the arteries that feed the construction sites of this constantly growing giant city.

[@orikane1]

You could say its a city state :)

[@dmitriigrigorita2361]

Same feelings, man. It's beautiful and at the same time intimidating. Sometimes I miss Istanbul, hoping to visit it again some time in the future.

[@hksrm4172]

@@orikane1 a huge one 👍

[@chickensoldier9790]

It is really hard to connect the biggest city in Europe together.

[@kasyon3150]

I was awe struck when I visited Istanbul in 2019, since my previous visit in 2011. The amount of infrastructure that got built in less than a decade was astounding. Comparatively in the UK almost nothing has changed in my city. In fact our transit infrastructure is degrading... Good job to whoever is planning out Istanbuls transit, they do not shy away from a challenge.

[@RMTransit]

So interesting seeing how many people also were impressed by the city!

[@idot3331]

It's disgusting how neglected UK public transport is. The roads just become more and more packed with cars while the already meagre bus routes and train lines barely run at all, and the government sits back and suggests electric cars as a solution to the climate crisis while adding more lanes to motorways. Unbelievable

[@picklewithinternet2254]

@@idot3331 me: *cries in American*

[@kuriyamatidusflossy]

Come see the transit works in Toronto, Canada...it is ridiculously slow than we talk about how China will be the new super power ...yeah I wonder why

[@anlasma7942]

@@idot3331 its a shame since a few years ago I was awed by the extend of the London's metro coverage and hoped that one day Istanbul may reach to the same level

[@dannyfratina3901]

Good video but you left out a key component: boats! I know you mentioned them, but it's worth explaining further - if you want to cross between continents, there is a huge network of boats of various sizes that can take you huge distances for the price of a metro, and it uses the same payment system / tap card as the full metro/bus/etc system. Most boats come every 30 minutes, some locations have a boat leave every 15 minutes. The boats are huge, very calm, have lots of indoor and outdoor seating, are equiped with small cafes, and often will have live performers playing music on one end. What a gift to people traveling around Istanbul to have access to this form of transport.

[@alexfrancisburchard4708]

Not to mention that the boats carry more people on the average day than the entire Chicago L system.

[@emyrgrznsky9943]

Yeah!, he should've mentioned the ancient historic ''Vapur'' systems on the Bosphorus strait!. These '''Vapur'' ship systems have been adapted from Ottoman empire. They're amazing and really underrated.

[@kadirgunay8380]

Yes, the ferries should have been mentioned more.

[@prohacker5086]

It is mostly called Ferry instead of boat

[@freedomfire9366]

@@prohacker5086 ferries carry vehicles and People, but most of the boats just carry only people in İstanbul.

[@zulalerdogan2626]

I lived in İstanbul my whole life. This expansion happened so fast even i still get asthonished. I remember 6 years ago i used to take bus everyday to get to my school but now i don't remember the last time i took a bus. I use metro all the time, they are life savers. They're fast, clean, most of them arrive every 3 minutes or so and cool (if you've visited İstanbul on summer you'll relate) and there are still new metro lines on the way. By the way great video!

[@gressira]

thanks Kadir Topbaş

[@pcislocked]

@@gressira :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[@kankankankankankankan]

yeah especially considering how dense the traffic in the city is! honestly even though the busses run pretty fast the traffic can be a nightmare, the metro and tram systems are such lifesavers overall😭😭😭 glad they're working so hard to make the city more liveable

[@zulalerdogan2626]

@@kankankankankankankan exactly! Without them the city would be a mess

[@efeberkealici1539]

As an İstanbulite, I appreciate a lot to see that you cover our metro system, which indeed is undergoing a giant extension program. The aspects and details you tell in the video are researched well and mainly true, albeit I would like to add a couple of elements. That being said, even though you have mentioned the importance of the Marmaray suburban in its own video, I still think that it deserves an explanation. Although Marmaray is considered a suburban rail, it is far from being one, as it stretches all along highly-populated residential areas and has almost a metro-like frequency (a Halkalı - Gebze train every 15 minutes and an Ataköy - Pendik train every 7.5 minutes). It is worth mentioning once again that Marmaray creates the backbone of the entire Istanbul metro and connects all those M1, M2, M4, M5 (and later M3, M9, M11, M12, M8, M10) with each other. Also integrated into the Istanbulcard system, Marmaray is mostly used between Yenikapı and Söğütlüçeşme to transfer between the above-mentioned metro lines. Secondly, the M6 line mentioned in the video is accepted as a "mini-metro", which generally is used by the students and lecturers of the Boğaziçi University (which is the last station in the line). The same mini-metro classification can be applied to the M14 line which will offer a connection to Çamlıca Hill, the television tower, and the mosque there. Due to the comparably less ridership and a smaller distance the lines take, they are build with only a track between the stations to be able to cut the construction costs. Moreover, I have encountered some outdated information in the video regarding the HızRay project. The route planning for it is expanded to the west, namely to Beylikdüzü (which was Halkalı, also shown in the video) and the corridor it will follow is moved to a northern one, especially on the Asian side of the line. The HızRay project is generally compared with the Elizabeth Line in London. The last thing I would like to add is that you forgot to add the latest extension of the system, the suburban that was inaugurated a couple of months ago between Halkalı and Bahçeşehir. Due to the lack of a signalization system and double tracks, there are only four services every day (two in Halkalı-Bahçeşehir and two in Bahçeşehir-Halkalı direction). There are some rumors on the other hand that the total service count will be raised to 10 in the following months. Once again, thank you for making a video about the metro system of Istanbul and indirectly helping İstanbul to gain attention. I am looking forward to seeing other videos regarding the transit in Istanbul!

[@loccusloccus5315]

Great additional commentary. Regarding Hizray, as this project is still awaiting approval and funding, the route should be seen as illustrative, similar to the high speed train over the 3rd bridge. Regarding Bahçesehir, I would argue that this is more like a regional connection similar to the Ada Express, albeit being operated with Marmaray train sets.

[@efeberkealici1539]

@@loccusloccus5315 Even though the route of HızRay hasn't been finalized yet, it is certain that it will have Beylikdüzü instead of Halkalı as its western termini. You are totally right about that Halkalı - Bahçeşehir Suburban can be considered to be more of a regional connection, I still wanted to mention it as it is already included in the official railway map of Metro Istanbul as B2 (B stands for banliyö, Turkish for suburban rail).

[@RMTransit]

Haha, whether it is Metro or Suburban Rail seems to get a lot of debate, I think either is appropriate as often metro style trains do operate on suburban style railways! All very cool stuff!

[@Daneelro]

The difference between metro and suburban has become semantic at least since the opening of the north-south S-Bahn connection in Berlin. The Marmaray line resembles German S-Bahn and French RER systems in having larger trains with more distantly spaced stations than "normal" metros and more dedicated & grade-separated track and through connections in contrast to "normal" suburban trains. (It's true that most suburban services have lower frequencies, but there are "normal" suburban trains in some cities running into terminal stations with even higher frequencies than Marmaray; for example Mumbai's Central Line or Transilien Line H in Paris.)

[@caprica_13]

@@batukurtluoglu845 İstanbullu kelimesinin İngilizce çevirisi Istanbulite. O kadar yazmış bilgi vermiş arkadaş, sen de gelip dalga geçiyorsun. Cehaletin bu kadarı, ibretlik.

[@realagentpenguin]

Istanbul's metro network is impressive! It's vast, it has great trains and on top of that.... it has trams, metro buses and cable cars to support them. This is just super cool!

[@RMTransit]

I agree, quite impressive!

[@egemen3934]

It is quite impressive to take the metrobus at work out hour.

[@archie2768]

We also have doors and windows everywhere

[@timzermunk717]

One feature you didn't mention is the Istanbulcard. It functions much like London's Oyster card, but also allows access to some other facilities, such as the public toilet near the Blue Mosque.

[@sannidhyabalkote9536]

That's a fucking great feature

[@efeberkealici1539]

Exactly! You can pay for the toilets of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the parking lots of Ispark and even go for a grocery shopping to contracted grocery stores such as Migros.

[@kayaguvendi]

The municipality had intended to convert it into a full fledged debit card (they are not very common in Turkey otherwise) at one point, but there were some problems in expanding its use. Maybe the project will be taken up again in the future.

[@alexfrancisburchard4708]

They've also converted it so that you can use a mobile app completely via QR codes to pay for transit/toilets, etc. You no longer need to carry the physical card!

[@edilgin]

you can also buy water in stations with istanbulcard no need to bother with cash

[@hpsauce1078]

It is great to see istanbul developing so rapidly, such an important city deserves a world class transport network.

[@iskfidan1195]

It's already been one of the most developed metropols of all times, almost in every period of history including nowadays. What's happening is that It's now just trying to catch up with the insanely growing population through some extra infrastructural investments and projects.

[@BanesPlanes]

I visited istanbul few months ago. And i was stunned how good the metro systems are. I enjoyed the marmaray soo much, because i could get from atakoy to asian side very very quickly. And it is very cheap. Looking forward to another trip to Istanbul

[@mobilinsan]

The thing that made me a transit and urbanism enthusiast was İstanbul, the city that I born and live in. And listening the metro system -that I literally memorized- from you was astonishing. Thank you for the İstanbul Explained video that I've been waiting since the time I subscribed to the channel.

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for watching Mustafa!

[@moharrammoharrami3957]

It's genuinely fantastic. I haven't been to many cities, but Istanbul has the best transport system I've ever seen. I was there on September 2021, and I hadn't needed a taxi even a single time during my 20 day stay.

[@RusNad]

I have to say the amount of improvement in the 2 or 3 years between my 1st and 2nd visit to Istanbul was insane to the point that a lot of stops were not even shown on google maps yet. I do feel that the service is still disjointed and that it's a bit of a pain to travel long distances inside the city but marmaray and metrobus definitely have improved that a lot.

[@RMTransit]

Yeah things are very poorly represented just generally in Google Maps, I was looking for the Mall of Istanbul and I don't think its even labelled!

[@narsimhas1360]

I have heard Erdogan mainly props up the economy by construction projects. This could be one good thing that would have come out of that

[@aquawater5069]

@@narsimhas1360 No, it is not. The mayor of Istanbul, who is in charge of all of these projects, is from the opposition party. Either way, there's very high commitment from both the opposition and ruling political parties to improve public transport in Istanbul and I suppose other cities as well.

[@idontexist1681]

@@aquawater5069 only in istanbul. The government doesn't support other metro projects currently.

[@kaanerdem2822]

Google maps still doesnt shows "new" roads or bridges that are built around istanbul. If you dont know, youll be stuck on a traffic jam.

[@johnforestersworstnightmar3756]

As an American, I’ve never been so jealous. I live in Philadelphia and we haven’t gotten a new metro extension since the 1960s and our current regional rail system still runs at a lower frequency and services less places than it did in the 1950s. So far there is only have 1 planned expansion to a car dominant edge city that is a massively expensive project that will serve only a laughable amount of people. 2 other subway expansions have been kicked around since the 1920s but still haven’t gotten a serious evaluation. It’s so infuriating to live in a richer country that can’t even seem to maintain a basic transit system, let alone sensibly expand it.

[@jazzcatjohn]

Dude, try living in the west *cough* Seattle. lol

[@jdc327]

Apparently much of this is attributable to SEPTA's "regional hierarchy"; having the board split evenly amongst counties rather than by population size. *ARMCHAIR URBANIST* has a great vid explaining this and more!! (made me realize the absurdity of NHSL>2>KOP)

[@deebte__]

i live in la. our (modern) rail system didn't even exist until the early 90s, and one of the worst planned projects is extending the c line to torrance. it's gonna be close to 5 miles long, but only have two stations (there were originally 3 but the idiots who live in lawndale fought against it and won). like why would you have transit running through your city but _not_ want it to stop there? the terminus is at torrance's new transit center, which they built on some empty lot in an industrial area next to nothing interesting. they could've built on top of some mostly empty parking lot adjacent to wilson park, which would put it directly behind torrance high school and less than a mile from downtown old torrance (only because you have to go around torrance high, if they built a pedestrian tunnel under it could be less than a kilometer, maybe even less than half a mile). this was originally proposed in 2008 with measure m, it's still in the environmental review phase (which means very little funding is secured and we don't know when they'll start building it), and the expected completion date is 2031. this is supposed to be part of the 28 by 28 (28 projects by 2028 for the olympics, most of which are freeway and interchange related but a few are for rail expansions) which would theoretically speed it up, but that's going nowhere. the worst part? they've set aside almost a *_billion_* dollars for this.

[@batukurtluoglu845]

The problem is republic of turkey is very young less than 100 years so we were kinda late about these developments to catch modern world, also suffered from poverty and lack of proper governer and presidents

[@velotill]

"but does it pay for itself from day one?" people in the US are made to believe is a legit query to all things public transport/infra. It's not just that this is obviously bonkers but the sheer amount of public selfharm existing in the US is quiet impressive - from a safe distance somewhere in Europe that is.

[@bjornnilsson1827]

Having actually worked with Metro Istanbul (i.e. on the supplier side) I think what you say at 14:33 sums up their entire philosophy and organizational culture. They're NUTS, but in a very good way. I've never worked with any organization that are "solution oriented" to the same level and they also seem to have no fear of failure whatsoever. Given that transit demand in the greater Istanbul area is near limitless I think this is very fortunate.

[@afd1040]

Yeah even at our worst we are doing way better than most of the world

[@Marian87]

I've returned from Istanbul just last week and me and my wife mostly went around the Golden Horn areas on foot just to see the sights and feel the atmosphere and I was pretty satisfied, but damn there is so much stuff to see. We only used T1 2 times and a ferry, After this visit we decided that we MUST visit again and this time take full advantage of the transportation infrastructure as the prices are reasonable even for Eastern Europeans.

[@leepic9091]

Seeing this video made my day! I've been wanting Istanbul for sooo long as someone from the city. Thank you for covering our city !!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for watching!

[@sygneg7348]

After last visiting Turkey in 2019, I never knew that there was this much expansion happening in the city! These expansion plans will definently help Istanbul, as their tram lines were severely packed and barely anyone could get on and off due to overcrowding.

[@RMTransit]

Yeah its really exciting to see how well used stuff is!

[@kayaguvendi]

Stambuliote here, T1 anytime of the day, maybe except on the very end stations around 10am-noon is like being on a pack of sardines with no obvious solutions. Other lines are fine though, except Metrobus on rush hour.

[@enessenel6302]

T1 is the tram line with the most passengers carried per day in the world, averaging over 330,000 passangers per day

[@auzun866]

T1 is literal hell. Should be avoided

[@mtark9988]

Tram lines are good for feeding metro lines but can not replace them. Their capacity is very low, they are slower and in the case of t1, the line goes through the most crowded and popular areas of istanbul. So yeah, overcrowding is an issue and it is hard to solve. Because you cannot replace it with a metro as you would have to put frequent stops and end up with an underground tram line again. Maybe a metro line parallel to it with less stops could seem feasible but throughout the t1's route multiple parallel metro lines already exist. It is just the city's crowdedness at this point.

[@tubz]

Wow, I am so amazed by the sheer amount of growth and expansion! I live in Chicago and the municipal government has been planning, debating, and arguing over an expansion to one of our lines for over a decade. That's been literally the only development for our rail system. All the while, Istanbul has been building several new lines in many many new stations. Crazy to see the difference when public transit is prioritized.

[@anlasma7942]

well we have to. our city was the worlds traffic jam capital before gas prices soared to the moon :D with rising population we have to get better public transit to reduce cars on the road

[@fusionreactor7179]

Chicago is also extremely flat too for comparison

[@orikane1]

Chicago's metro/subway system is pretty strange though. It looks like a hand with the city center being the palm and all transit lines running along spread out fingers (in a sense). The suburbs are not connected at all, making the design philosophy blatantly clear: go to work, once you're done, go back home... It imposes a strict lifestyle on you if you don't have a car and don't want to pay for services like Uber.

[@crowmob-yo6ry]

So far, the most innovative thing Metra has done is convert a freight loco to haul passengers. XD

[@_imago]

I grew up in Istanbul and only after moving to Berlin I realized how insane public transport is in Istanbul. The city is insanely large, and while a lot of cities have a "city" and a "metropolitan area", the line between these are so blurred that it is not possible to define a practical line. Add to that 17-something million people and a damn sea splitting the city in half, it's a miracle that public transport works so well.

[@mdhazeldine]

Wow, pretty impressive system. I know the city has a lot of history but when you look into it, it's much bigger and more developed than you'd think, given how little you hear about it. What they're building makes the Elizabeth Line look like a little pet project. haha

[@RMTransit]

Yeah thats my reaction exactly, a huge city you don't hear enough about!

[@Daneelro]

@@RMTransit In general, I have the impression that people in Western countries are too navel-gazing and aren't aware of much more impressive development going on in the "developing" world: there is Istanbul, then there are all the Chinese cities, then South Korea, then all the rest of Southeast Asia, then the complete systems built from zero in the Gulf States (though it remains to be seen how well those will work - so far we know the Dubai Metro does work, but could be better), there is a lot going on in Latin America too (especially Santiago de Chile), hell even in Iran. People in the West forgot to think _really_ big in public works projects, and this is mainly due to the new anti-Keynesian economic orthodoxy. The only country bucking that trend in the West, Spain, was stopped in its tracks during the Euro crisis that followed the 2007-8 world financial crisis. Meanwhile politicians in Berlin would think you're out of your mind if you suggested that the city would deserve a doubling of its metro network length.

[@idontexist1681]

@@Daneelro turkey is the country of insane public works projects. Every politician has crazy projects here.

[@Daneelro]

@@jandron94 What are you talking about? Lack of awareness about the ambitiousness and size of public transport (and, more generally, public works) projects in other countries (and, as a result, the mistaken belief that the projects going on in Western countries are the measure of things and all that's possible) has nothing to do with the origins of scientific progress. We are talking about a specific field where the West is already _not_ ahead (due to its own mistakes) but most people in the West are woefully unaware of it.

[@Daneelro]

@@jandron94 Why is _that_ the question in your mind, rather than whether such inward-looking ignorance is good for us? I want the US and Europe to pursue urban rail & HSR projects on the scale seen in China or Korea or Turkey today - or as seen in the US and Europe in the past. But most Western politicians & voters think it's impossible even though it's actually done in other countries.

[@morganambler5281]

I was blown away by the variety and efficacy of public transit in Istanbul. I was also amazed by how many of their stations are accessible compared to NY or London.

[@deniz_dee]

There's actually more to it. The bus line network is pretty extensive and reliable and there's also a "minibus network" that runs on set routes with not quite designated stops (i.e. you sign to the driver and they will stop at a close enough spot where they won't fully block the traffic). They're actually more convenient, but a part of the horrible road traffic. The lines listed in this video obviously bypass the traffic, which is why they were/are easy to justify projects and build large commuter numbers after opening. Even though the metro looks accessible, there's often a ridiculously long walk to the trains, and probably several sets of escalators that makes the metro unappealing for people unable to walk long distances. So, a bus+ferry remains a popular option to cross between the two sides.

[@marcietownsend3635]

I'm in Istanbul. As a lover of public transportation, I'm dazzled with Istanbul's complex and beautiful system also completely integrated with Google Maps.

[@Rahshu]

I've been watching this city for years! Istanbul is so interesting, and the growth has indeed been explosive. The Marmaray got very delayed because of the many archeological finds. Istanbul is such a damned ancient city that it's pretty much inevitable. Thessaloniki has been having the same problem. Athens had it, Rome had it, Mexico City had it. If you want to preserve your past, you gotta be patient. I can't wait to see how big Istanbul's transport system gets in the coming years! It's like watching China it changes so fast.

[@MrDigitalman78]

Never been to Istanbul Turkey in European and Asian side. But I'm blown away by their transit system much better than Toronto's TTC transit. Always building it without arguing about it. Plus their metro train have pantograph overhead power system like metro in Panama city Panama.

[@teomanefeaycan4854]

The arguing still does happen, but instead it's in the form of "I'll do it"s between the national government and the municipality (the mayor is from the opposition so they are trying to one-up each other in terms of metro const-ructions).

[@koboi491]

World-class public transport, well done Turkey. I hope someday I can visit Istanbul.

[@emptycloud8669]

Greetings friend, thanks for your comment!

[@denizerni151]

I was highly anticipating this video from you for a very long time. I'm from Istanbul, and I must say the details you gave in this video is very impressive, you did your research thoroughly. Thank you for recognizing the rapid expansion of the system, it is not known and not mentioned anywhere really. Hope to see more videos from you about the transportation system in Istanbul with more detail, and maybe Turkey as well in the near future.

[@buzzgibi5792]

You dont know how much I waited for this video as an Istanbulite

[@tunitotunito]

Istanbul is well known by some yet underrated by the masses and is waiting to be discovered

[@loccusloccus5315]

The M3 North extension of 6.2km opened today. Within one year, Istanbuls metro system grew from 133km to 200km. Worldwide it’s ranking at the 27th place right behind Mexico City and rose by 15 places, leaving cities like Berlin, Seoul, Chicago, Tehran and Tokyo behind.

[@eb9145]

as an istanbul transit curious, i can say that your coverage is totally updated and representative of the actual situation. congrats.

[@jan-lukas]

When the T4 trams look familiar to you, and you realize they're (partially?) old vehicles bought from cologne. They are first generation Stadtbahnwagen Typ B iirc, that were sold when they reached their "max" lifespan of 30 years, but apparently they're still going strong!

[@enessenel6302]

Yes, they are used trains bought from Germany. Very cool to see some people noticing.

[@emptycloud8669]

Germans build things that are meant to last, very cool

[@omerys58]

i use t4 twice a day and I've encountered about 10 vehicles out of service in the last 3 weeks. One of them caught fire when its full with passengers

[@emptycloud8669]

@@omerys58 it was evacuated tho

[@omerys58]

@@emptycloud8669 of course

[@irondsd]

I live in Istanbul for about 6 months now, and I haven't seen public transportation system that is so good anywhere in the world. sometimes it takes a long time to travel, but given the size of the city (over 70 km long and 20 km wide) it's not that bad.

[@osmanceylan]

From left to right on the Turkish map Istanbul is 270 km not 70

[@volkanramazan1843]

He ment the city center. Not the official borders. If you go 270 km from bostancı to east you will pass izmit and reach to sakarya.

[@ID-mf2kq]

@@volkanramazan1843 çatallanın ötesindeki Istanbul köylerini mi konuşak şimdi

[@volkanramazan1843]

@@ID-mf2kq siktirtme istanbulun köynü evet

[@atharvajoshi5331]

Epic, probably my favourite city I've travelled to. Only went on the tram line. Need to go again and travel on all the other modes

[@RMTransit]

Yes you do!

[@loccusloccus5315]

Excellent video Reece. Thanks for introducing Istanbul's metro system to an international audience.

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for your assistance too!

[@jimhearsonwriter]

I'm visiting for the first time in March and can't wait to take advantage of all the transport connections.

[@cem-en9yw]

Thank you for covering this wonderful city! As someone who commutes at least 15km (sometimes more than 30km) every day at Istanbul as a student, I can say that the biggest problem for me is not the distance which I have to travel, but the ways to cross the other side of Istanbul. The Metrobüs is great, however it takes a lot of walking to transfer to it. The marmaray is really fast considering all the other options, but the occasional malfunctions cause marmaray to arrive late and build a huge crowd waiting for the next train. (Especially in Uskudar or Sirkeci stations, which are the last stations before crossing the sea). In some extreme cases where the marmaray doesn’t arrive for 30+ minutes (I only encountered this 3 times this year) the crowd is so huge that the station is almost full and there is no room to breathe. My favorite way of crossing to the other side is by ferry’s. They are really convenient and helps me relax while I’m commuting. Depending on the commute distance, it may take only 6 - 7 minutes or a full 30 minutes. The other really big problem is that Istanbul is really overcrowded. And I mean it, it is really really overcrowded. The public transport is a really fast and convenient way most of the time. But having to squeeze myself into a metro or a bus, or just be able to barely make room for someone else to enter the bus is really frustrating. And in peak hours one has to sometimes wait for two or more busses until one has enough room to get in (and I don’t mean finding room to sit, it’s room just to get in the bus). The traffic also doesn’t really help the issues either. In peak hours it may consume three times more time to get to the same destination with public transport. Even though Istanbul has some issues, I still think that it’s definitely better than most cities in terms of commute by public transport. It has super nice stations, really great rolling stock and nice station placement. And I look forward to commuting with the sweet sweet ferries everyday. The calming sea and the rising sun make a great view.

[@turkishpashabey]

Istanbul is great in terms of public transport. It was not like that in the past, but because of the traffic intensity, it had to be built. Without the metro, you may spend hours and hours in the traffic. Thanks a lot for the video!

[@loccusloccus5315]

The first of many extensions mentioned in this video opened today Oct 2, 2022. The M4 line was extended to the Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the Asian side, enabling passengers to seamlessly reach Kadikoy and other transfer points along the route. A very important addition to the network as, for the first time in years, one of Istanbul's operating Airports is connected to the metro system again.

[@turgut_krm]

After 1 year of this video, almost 23 new stations already opened

[@henrikoci5668]

I went on a trip to Istanbul in September 2018, and I was amazed by the infrastructure, and the short time it took to build all of these means of transport (about 30 years!). Here in Athens, Greece we had to wait for a line extension of 6 stations for 10 years, and they always postponed the date of release to the public.

[@alpherus]

Here in Ankara, we are waiting for 10 years (and still waiting) for one station. (Söğütözü Ankaray) Station is completed, tunnel infrastructures are completed but since the train signalling is so old, we have to wait another 8 km expansion and signal system change for opening it. We are also waiting for a 3 station expansion for 5 years. (M4 Gar-Adliye-Kızılay) İstanbul is going strong in terms of railways but Ankara still has a long way to go and there is not an expansion project going on except these two.

[@midorithefestivegardevoir6727]

I remember when Marmaray was first opened for public use; it only had a couple of stations on each side of the Bosphorus. Seeing the length of the line right now is a very strong whiplash as someone who left Istanbul long, long ago. It was a great surprise when I didn't have to get on the regular Metro lines to visit my mom last time.

[@bahadrozturk2086]

Thanks for the video as a İstanbul native and a daily user of Metrobüs and metro (I'm also a student of the said split university.)

[@RMTransit]

Haha so cool to hear from you!

[@timurtopal]

M6 is a single & less used line because it's practically exclusive to Boğaziçi University students as they are the only ones using it. I'm a Boğaziçi student and I can confidently say that nearly all of the passengers in M6 are Boğaziçi students. Boğaziçi Unviersity is the terminal station in that line and everyone gets off at that station.

[@loccusloccus5315]

The next project, mentioned in this video, was opened today. The F4 funicular on the European side is connecting the M6 metro with ferries on the Bosporus shore. Probably one of the least important projects, it will still hopefully help to increase the significance and ridership of the M6

[@newman4938]

Least important for Istanbul, but it was great for me. I live in Üsküdar and it's so easy to get to Boğaziçi by boat now, so comfortable too, and cheap.

[@MarloSoBalJr]

The way you were describing this entire system, you have me entice visiting Istanbul in the next couple years. Very good insight as always Reece. Excited about this this network's future.

[@aquawater5069]

By the time you visit in the next couple years, with all the rapid improvements, it'll be even better!

[@TheHHIPPO]

I love the metro system in Istanbul, easiest way to commute. I can't even compare it to the tube in london (considering it being the oldest). The metro is clean, air conditoned cars even free wifi 😬 what could a commuter ask for? Ok it might be a bit pricey for locals but if you compare it to the tube its like night and day. Great to hear they are expanding it.

[@yotoronto12]

I visited Istanbul back in May (I'm from Toronto). I find it really surprising how quick they are building metro lines in such difficult terrain (this video mentions it at times, but I cannot emphasize more how absurdly difficult and unique the terrain of the city is for construction in addition to the cultural and historic landmarks, the importance of trade routes crossing through the city by the sea, air, and land, and above all, the huge population of Europe's largest city I think a lot of cities particularly in North America should take note of this with respect to the pacing of transit development (hint Eglinton Line 5). I think Istanbul's metro would benefit greatly from more connections across the Bosphorus especially given that getting from Europe to Asia is an ordeal. For instance, Sabiha Gokcen to Levant which I've done using the E-3 bus takes a huge amount of time due to the extreme level of traffic going across bridges. The same goes for inter-line connectivity and maybe additional stations on existing lines, especially in Fatih & Beyoglu. One thing to keep in mind about Istanbul, is more than anything. Respect the trams. No matter how narrow the sidewalks are, do not get in their way. At the speeds they're going, they will not stop for you if you are on its track.

[@orikane1]

I agree but Sabiha Gokcen is literally in the middle of nowhere (like the Istanbul Airport is today)

[@kbeyazgolge]

Sabiha Gokcen metro line’s construction is going on. It will be connected to main metro line, probably it will be open in a year and after that, this torture will be finished 🙂.

[@Usamamohamud]

@@orikane1 there are really good shuttle systems from nearly all major points in the city though

[@AyseBetulK]

eglinton line delayed again..

[@Osmantugran]

The metro line to Sabiha Gokcen airport is finished and is opened a couple of days ago.

[@static4939]

9:17 just wanted to quickly say that the Marmaray tunnel opened in 2013 and the rest of the line opened in 2019. Also an interesting fact on M11 is that it won’t be operated by Metro Istanbul but rather the Turkish State Railways like the Marmaray. Otherwise an amazing video on the Istanbul metro

[@zeinaaaaaa7468]

as someone who's been living in istanbul for two years in esenyurt, the metrobus literally saved my life, i use it EVERY WHERE, i take it somewhere then i get on a bus, a metro, a tram, the marmaray, and for the most part most connections are at most a 15 minutes walk, i can go to the other side of the city and back and not even have to pay the minimum fee for a taxi

[@daisukiman]

Also, big props to how the funicular at 15:24 combines Spanish solution boarding with what are clearly retrofitted platform screen doors. The PSDs are on the side where you wait, but not on the side where people are only getting off!

[@ltankk]

Istanbul is indeed impressive and is one of the places I intend to travel to and visit some time in future! 😀

[@RMTransit]

Its worth it!

[@direnius]

You won't regret it.

[@gazzamuso]

The quirk you mentioned about M6, that it's single line except for the station's all acting as passing loops, that is similarly they case for the Johnsonville branch line in Wellington, New Zealand. There are 8 stations with 6 of them being single line and 2 of them being double line only for the length of the platforms. There's also a third section of double line roughly the same size as the other 2, but it is only a passing loop and has no platforms.

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for sharing that! I love that type of minimal infrastructure service, I need to visit Wellington!

[@timurtopal]

@@RMTransit M6 is a single & less used line because it's practically exclusive to Boğaziçi University students as they are the only ones using it. I'm a Boğaziçi student and I can confidently say that nearly all of the passengers in M6 are Boğaziçi students. Boğaziçi Unviersity is the terminal station in that line and everyone gets off at that station.

[@Aleksssssssss]

I'm so happy to be living here! The city is constantly evolving and public transport is only getting better and better

[@gkeremdilaver]

i am in tears :') i have been waiting for this video for sooo long and it is finally here. the system in the city is quite good but the problem is as you mentioned, changing between lines. i have to use 4 different lines to be able to go to school and all that climbing up and getting back down is so tiring. anyways, great video!

[@fusionreactor7179]

My god the escalators and stairs. In Ankara there is like 1 maybe 2 escalators for most stations. In Hacıosman I remember 5 f’ing escalators

[@gkeremdilaver]

@@fusionreactor7179 hacıosman is not the worst one. in sirkeci there are 5 escalators each one being the tallest escalator i have ever seen

[@huleyn135]

@@fusionreactor7179 ankara isnt challenging terrain to build in.

[@Reikianolla]

I really like how this channel highlights good parts of cities around the world! It's extremely refreshing.

[@cityjetproductions]

An interesting fact about T5 is that while it uses Alstom APS, the trams are derived from Siemens technology.

[@RMTransit]

Interesting to know!

[@udishomer5852]

Wow that's an impressive public transportation system!

[@louptrjack7354]

I live in Eyupsultan district which needs M7 metro to get to Mecidiyeköy. Before that metro, it was taking 1-1,5 hours to me in busy hours with bus or minibus. After M7 was built, it became 10-13 mins which is amazing. I can't believe how we needed that metro in my district. I say it should have been done at least 15 years ago but anyways we have it now.

[@denikodeniko]

thank u sooooo much for literally showing every single metro that exists in my city :)

[@petardjordjevic3228]

Lausanne Metro is also single track outside of stations. Interesting metro to feature in one of your videos

[@RMTransit]

True, I forgot!

[@rustix3]

14:30 "the newest trains running on the line were actually designed and build in-house by Istanbul Metro, which is nuts" When I was in Bursa I was impressed, when I heard from the local that their metro trains are build in-house in Bursa. SO there is at least 2 cities in Turkey building metro trains in-house.

[@The2wanderers]

That is impressive. When I visited Istanbul in 2004 I did find its transit sufficient for my use as a tourist, but really underprovisioned for such a large city. I was aware of the Marmaray project, but not any of the other expansions you covered here, it's great to see how far they've come.

[@kenanshora]

Man, i live in istanbul , the public transit does it all, while it also being cheap (I'm a student). But the system is so so complex and hard to understand although i'm starting to get the hang of it. Amazing video

[@imagonnasah8319]

Went to Istanbul just recently and I have to say, I was dying to try out the public transport there especially the metro but couldn't due to being in a tour group travelling by bus. Really enjoyed the information put up in this video, thanks! Looks like I'll have to go back there someday :)

[@truthinyourface7345]

Beautiful, clean and well organized

[@zaferyurt7703]

Very Nice Video , As someone living in Istanbul , Istanbul's nickname is the city with 7 hills, there are 7 hills in old Istanbul , It is very difficult to make the metro because it is hilly and historical artifacts come out every 10 meters , opening dates are always delayed by 2/3 years because historical artifacts are out . some deficiencies for example Sabiha Gökçen Airport (Asian Airport) It is used more than Istanbul airport (European Airport) on domestic flights , People both swear and love the metrobus. The metrobus system really saves lives because it is not fast to build the metro, Transfers will be possible between M4 and M5 Lines at Sabiha Gökçen Airport as 2025/2030 , The reason for the M2 branch line is that there is a train depot there and because it is a new stadium. and there are plans to extend it , Tram lines removed from 1961 (European side) 1966 (Asian side) are actually still working, T1, T2, T3 are a mix of old lines , The most enjoyable way to go from Asia to Europe in Istanbul is by ferry, it is the fastest way to pass in marmaray and metrobus .

[@glorf1234]

Well at least you have a good excuse with historical artifacts. Here in Germany for example there are huge delays and cost overruns for most transit projects with very shady reasons.

[@abdullahaanawaleh]

I was in Istanbul in april 2023 so about 11 months ago and I was blown away. In the months between you releasing this video and me visiting, they expanded M4 to sabiha gokçen airport and kurtkoy and it was great. My hotel was in kurtkoy over 20km away from the city centre and it only took me 40mins. Everything was obviously great since the train station was less than a year old. The ferry system between europe and asia was so convenient with the universal istanbulcard. I even arrived in Istanbul from Ankara by train and I got off at pendik and transfered to M4 seamlessly to get to kurtkoy. The trams and M2 on the european side were great. Very walkable. If there's one thing that needs improvement is metro stations by the seaside on the Asian side. It was quite a distance from pendik station to pendik corniche. Also, other Turkish cities aren't receiving big investment like this. Ankara only has 4 lines and the coverage is poor, you have to use buses there mostly. Same with izmir. Anyways, everything was so new and they're still building even now. Its only 2024 so we're in the middle of the decade. Imagine things at the end of the decade and during the 2032 euros. I can't wait to visit then. I wish more cities were as visionary as Istanbul. London has built nothing in the last 50yrs besides the DLR, overground and Elizabeth line. Istanbul has opened 3 lines in 3yrs! Istanbul used to be kight years behind London in public transport and now they're almost the same. They've done so much in the last 20yrs. Truly inspirational. Like I said before, I can't wait to visit again inshallah!

[@Iamagoodperson]

Thank you for this wonderful and insightful video into the workings of the Istanbul Metro

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for watching!

[@ProjectXH]

I live in Istanbul and I love it. After watching this I love it even more. But what a great effort put into this video, lots of detailed accompanied with footage and animated maps, wow great work man!

[@japanesetrainandtravel6168]

At 15:27, it almost seems like that cable assisted railway operates off third rail too. Great insight into Istanbul Reece as I had neglected following this system and it’s expansion.

[@pinklazania]

Since you made this video a lot of progress have been made. It’ really impressive how much has changed in just 5 months.

[@MartinBrenner]

The Asian Side budget airport (SAW) has been a mess to get to with having to change to a overcrowded bus so it is great that there will be a metro line serving it. I haven't been at the new airport but I can imagine that it has a similar problem (besides other issues). T1 tram is great for getting to all the important historic sites.

[@gkcadadr]

relatively recently we gained bus lines to both airports with intercity style express busses that have the lower decks for luggage, so getting to the airports is significantly nicer now

[@wannasa16]

Good news from the transportation ministry: Next month they are opening the expansion to SAW and following month they are going to open the other metro that goes to IST airport(M11).

[@rednexie]

The government isn't opening the Saw metro, bc they want people to use the new airport

[@fusionreactor7179]

@@rednexie SAW refers to Sabiha Gökçen. It is Atatürk Airport that was shut down, not Sabiha Gökçen. And Sabiha Gökçen is getting a metro line this September

[@rednexie]

​@@fusionreactor7179 Erdoğan has said it was going to be available in 2018 september.

[@Nl0m]

Look at the crazy amount of expansion in just a year...

[@desilaart]

you should add that the public transport card has been intergrated with the municipal cafes(idk about european side so much but these cafes are along the coast corresponding to marmaray stops on the asian side and have restaurants in some cultural stops too) and most markets, even in cornerstores. it's also being integrated with more shops and banks each day. There's also free transportation for mothers with 0-4yo kids, people with disabilities and their caretakers and people over 65yo. and of course lower fees for teachers and students.

[@barsgecgil3437]

15:47 I go to that university and had to use that gondola line on occasion to switch from one side of the uni to the other. The uni has 4 campuses and after taking the gondola line you can take a metro line going directly to the 3rd campuss making travel really convenient (you take the M2 line) The newly built F4 line and the "interesting" single track metro line that you have mentioned in the video are also almost exclusively to serve a different university. (they are of course like all the other public transport and have various stops but the most frequent use they have is for the university students) There is certainly a lot to improve on the city design but the expansions being done rn are welcome. (as of right now nearly half of the projects that are mentioned as being worked on in the video are completed or nearing completion) Thx for the video. I quite enjoyed it !

[@dhiaoshaish]

have been living in İstanbul for 7 years, public transportation blows my mind.

[@dogukancs]

As an living in Istanbul, I am so impressed to see this comments, (any political, racist, or something... comments the not in) i appreciate a lot for comments.

[@kmmmsyr9883]

You should've really mentioned İstanbulkart. It's a card that allows you to deposit money and use that money to pay for all the public transit (except minibuses and taxi, which aren't operated by the Municipality) and not only public transit. You can use these cards for almost every service the Istanbul Municipality provides. You can use the public toilet and even gyms operated by them. It's a must have for every Istanbul residence.

[@emregoregen5852]

You wrong, you can use istanbulkart as credit card on taxi :)

[@kmmmsyr9883]

@@emregoregen5852 Thanks for correcting, I haven't used taxis for a long time :)

[@Theonintendo]

Great video Reece ! You’re the best !

[@RMTransit]

Thank you Theo!

[@YlmazCanerOzyaykc]

Thank you for using the photos we took under a Creative Commons license and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for doing so!

[@elifrana4571]

Such a perfect video, thanks! As a person from İstanbul, i would like to correct a mistake, the M5 Çekmeköy-Üsküdar line, which opened in 2018-2019 is actually the very first in both İstanbul and Türkiye to feature platform screen doors and is fully automatic, not M7. M7 was fully opened in 2020. But anyway, loved the video! Love from Istanbul ❤️

[@loccusloccus5315]

He mentioned it correctly that M7 is the first metro line in Istanbul with full height platform doors. M5, while the first fully automatically operated line in Turkey, only features platform doors halfway up...

[@alexdurand1699]

Vraiment intéressant, merci!

[@rifenossimple4344]

Visited in Istanbul in march 2022. Very impressive public trabsport. From ferries, to trams to metro's. Very accescible with the Istanbulkart. Even better now that the new airport has a direct metro connexction with the city

[@kankankankankankankan]

oh, nice!!! I came to Istanbul a few weeks ago for school from a relatively small Turkish town and I take the M2 and M7 lines daily, this is actually an excellent explanation of the system of public transport in Istanbul is huge and insufficient at the same time, so I'm really glad they're building more metros to help soothe it down!! honestly, if we had half the transportation options as Istanbul in my hometown it'd be so comfortable to travel....one day, one day... edit: I actually used to think that my hometown of Giresun had a rather sufficient public transport system, as good as it gets with such a small population and budget anyway, with the only way of public transportation being the "dolmuş" system, which are small busses that have a specific destination and you can get in and off whenever you want. This system works well in the coast as we have a single main road, the black sea coastal highway, and most settlements being some 1km to the coast makes this system work pretty efficiently. but as you can probably guess, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the istanbul metro lines! man am I jealous! .....that said I'm still waiting for the black sea metro line connecting sinop to artvin (maybe in another 50 years😔)

[@eagleeye9783]

I visited to Istanbul in Feb and March 2023. its public transportation network is awesome and easy to access. Amazing

[@ethanpolley1085]

I would love a video on country wide transport. Obviously not explaining all the transport in a country. But more like explaining transport hubs, any high speed rail, key transit cities.

[@lordshitpost31]

There are several high speed(250 km/h average) train lines and additional ones are being built, railway is often the fastest form of travel considering you have to wait for luggage and other drudgeries of airports.

[@florianfasquelle5212]

Istanbul is very fantastic

[@Diego-pc4rc]

I think the boats are a major part of the network and you can't fully understand the network without them

[@berkedemirezen2540]

7:20 Similar entrance signs also exist in the metro systems of Ankara, İzmir, Bursa and Adana. I used to live in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Its metro has also been growing significantly in the last decade with new lines being added.

[@ahmedhany7035]

Can you make a video about Cairo’s metro system and its future expansion, as well as the light rail transit that opened recently.

[@RMTransit]

Probably eventually!

[@ZRHTrainspotter]

One of the world's biggest cities, no wonder it has such great transit

[@ourworldexplained3544]

Never clicked so fast!!

[@RMTransit]

I hope you enjoyed!

[@onuralpcakr305]

I used M6 for 5 years to go the university it leads to (Boğaziçi). It's a 4 station line that leads to some of the richest neighbourhoods in the centre of Istanbul and also a historical university that could be defined "small" in comparison to others in Istanbul with 15k students.

[@aidennehy]

Cool video! The maps with the transit line animations get kinda busy and hard to make sense of. Might help to desaturate the background a little more and highlight which line you're talking about better (Maybe some Wendover Productions style animation or maybe some drop shadows/outlines to make the lines pop a little better from the background)

[@daisukiman]

I'm really glad to see that the M1 train consists, although derived from light rail vehicles, have driver cabs only on the very ends. There are no redundant driver cabs sitting empty (and replacing passenger space) as in many North American LRT systems with the same car type! Manila, Philippines also does this (and thankfully, given overcrowding) with its LRT-1 and MRT-3 train sets.

[@dkursada]

M1 train sets are interesting. As someone commuted a lot in that line, I noticed that the 3-digit number code of every car in sets shows you that if the car has a driver cab or not. Cars with driver cabs start with a 3-digit code starting with the number 5 and middle cars that has no driver cabs have 3-digit codes starting with the number 1. And the thing is, a M1 train set has a 4-car layout. And an M1 train set gets broken up and the cars get re-connected with other cars time to time. So, sometimes you see train sets with 5XX-1XX-1XX-5XX layout, like in the video. And sometimes, there are not enough cars with no driver cabs, so the line operators create sets that has middle cars with driver cabs, so the set is in a 5XX-1XX-5XX-5XX layout. So, sometimes there are redundant driver cabs indeed :')

[@Mojo29]

I was actually in Istanbul 3 and a half weeks ago and really enjoyed using its Tramway. Have never seen one running at such as impressive frequency! I’m intrigued by how many of the lines don’t actually go into the City Centre. Certainly from a British perspective this seems quite unusual and would surely limit potential customer numbers? Sadly I was too early for the M11 line to open so had to get a taxi from the airport. I noticed that this line also will not go into the City Centre.

[@deniz_dee]

I would argue that İstanbul doesn't have a city centre in the same sense. The city is divided up into municipal districts that mostly have their own central, more commercially dense areas. As someone who grew up in the city, I would argue the center would mean something else depending on where the person lives and works in the city, and I can't tell what you mean by the center. Do you mean Taksim, Sultanahmet, Eminönü, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy, or somewhere else? Out of these, I would guess it's Sultanahmet, since it's the historical center where Hagia Sofia and so on are located, and is the one with the most limited connections. But yeah, it's more of a tourist center nowadays than an actual downtown city center with a lot of businesses and commuters. Tourists will prefer to walk around more anyways, so the area can get away with less transit compared to the rest of the city. But some improvement in terms of accessibility would be nice.

[@alexfrancisburchard4708]

M11 does go to the city center. Buyukdere Cd. from Cevahir to Sapphire is about as much of a city center as you can consider in İstanbul, and M11 lands in the middle of that at Gayrettepe. But also, İstanbul has multiple job clusters. Like 10-20 of them. So our lines go all over picking up work zones, housing zones, shopping zones, nightlife zones, etc. It's a many-polar city, not a single polar city.

[@huleyn135]

The city doesnt have a centre. You're thinking from the perspective of your own city. Levent/şişli would be the upper class business center, but it is by no means the heart of the city. Nobody goes there to hang out unless you're a millionaire off your shift.

[@akinoz]

Thank you for huge insight about Istanbul’s public transport system.