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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 !!

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

Great work! I love the video. Even as an İstanbulite I didn't know some of that info, thank you and keep up the good work!

Great video Reece ! You’re the best !

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.

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

Thank you for this GREAT video on İstanbul, very well done!

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

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

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.

Very well explained and very well done. Fantastic information.

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

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!

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

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!

great video mate! greetings from Istanbul.

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

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!

I really enjoyed this video along with your almost complete avoidance of saying station names ;)

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

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

Vraiment intéressant, merci!

Beautiful, clean and well organized

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

Wow that's an impressive public transportation system!

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

Great video blown my mind how unknown this amazing network is. Would love to see you to introduce the Oslo metro

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

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 :)

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.

So detailed, thanks

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

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 .

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.

very good video man

Great information 👍

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.

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.

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

Thanks bro, really interesting

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)

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

Such a perfect video 👏

Very well explained.

Never clicked so fast!!

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.

Especially in the last 5 years the city developed a lot

Yes, I think you should be proud of this one, Reece!

If anybody is interested, other cities of Turkey with interesting rail transport are Ankara, İzmir, and Eskişehir. The latter is a university city with 800k habitants so I suppose it makes a nice comparison to the average Northern American city.

Eko başkan helal olsun sana!

Very impressive!

Thank you, very useful information, please add more about other Turkish cities 🌹🌹🌹best regards.