Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ is reportedly in talks with Turkey to build a railway over the Bosphorus in Istanbul as part of a planned trade corridor linking Europe to the Middle East and Asia, in what will rival the US- and European Union-backed IMEC project.
Bloomberg citing Turkish officials familiar with the matter reported the news on Thursday. The railway is planned to cross the Yavuz Sultan Selim suspension bridge, the sources said. The bridge was finalized in 2016 for $3 billion and is used to link Istanbul’s European and Asian sides. It is one of the longest and widest crossings in the world — 2,164 meters (1.3 miles) and 58.4 meters (192 feet), respectively.
The sources said that Turkey wants to use its strategic geographical position to help link a trade corridor between London, the Gulf and Beijing.
Al-Monitor has contacted Turkey’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and ADQ for comment.
