Istanbul Case Appendices

Appendix A: Operation and Ridership

Istanbul metros run between 6am and 12pm during weekdays, with headways ranging between 5-10 minutes at peak hours. Since 2019, lines M1A, M1B, M2, M4, M5 and M6 are operated 24 hours a day on weekends and state holidays, with 20-minute frequencies and double fares.

Below are monthly ridership numbers of active lines in Istanbul, in millions, for the months of February between 2016 and 2020. February was selected as the last month before Covid-19 lockdowns impacted ridership. The month of October shows the highest ridership with 20% more riders per line on average than February; and August the lowest, going as low as 20% below February numbers on average for these five years.

Table A-1 Monthly ridership in millions of passengers

Table A-2 Yearly ridership data of Istanbul lines. M5 started service in December 2017

Appendix B: TBM Staff Wages

Istanbul wages on this and the following tables are for January 2021, a 37% raise was applied to all wages due to rapid inflation later in the year. Old wages are used as they are compatible with the latest PPP of 2020, which is not available for 2021 as of June 2021.

Table B-1 Istanbul monthly wages of workers in a 2 TBM rail construction

Table B-2 Istanbul monthly wages of workers in a 2 TBM rail construction

Table B-3 New York weekly wages of workers in a 2 TBM rail construction.

Appendix C: Utility Replacement

Similarly with the case in New York, underground utility systems in Istanbul are not well documented, and oftentimes require a new utility relocation plan once the excavations reveal the underlying systems. One engineer recalled the plans versus the actual locations of utilities varying as much as 15 meters in the city (Personal Interview TR M 2021). However, the municipality is known to assist contractors with the acquisition of permits from the utility companies during rapid-rail construction. An interviewee working for the former municipal government claimed that the municipality was quick to resolve utility relocation problems, probably faster than the Ministry of Transit who also builds lines in the city, since they have a lot more experience (Personal Interview TR F 2020). He referred to a high voltage line of TEIAS (Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation) that was discovered in the right of way of M7 during excavations, for which the agency and the contractor got in touch with TEIAS and designed a solution within days. This is a good example of the Turkish contractors and the agency cooperating well.
Some utility companies in Istanbul are private and some are run by public enterprises. According to one senior level engineer with years of experience in rail construction, dealing with one is not easier than the other. He also mentioned that the previous municipality was better at easing the process of utility relocations; whereas the new one doesn’t cut corners, but is especially keen on going through with the legal approval processes, in turn slowing down the construction. A likely reason for this could be that the current government being from the opposition party, is more likely to get audited by the central government, hence is generally more meticulous in bureaucratic procedures.
Utility plans are commonly inaccurate, nevertheless, there has been a lot of improvement on this front in the recent years. The government owned gas company IGDAS, currently in the process of being privatized, works with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and provides largely accurate plans for areas that have been built within the last ten years. Water administration has also improved, but owns older infrastructure that is not well documented. Electricity and telecommunication are the hardest to work with, and cause a lot of delays as generally, their documentation is not managed well (Personal Interview TR F 2020).

Appendix D: EIS Process in Turkey

If a project falls within the category of projects that are subject to EIA or, is evaluated and granted an “EIA required” status, the owner submits an EIA application to the Ministry of Environment. The Ministry examines the file and creates a committee to evaluate the application, and forwards the file to the local governorship (the city), which announces the project along with public participation notices on the official online EIA portal, “e-ÇED.” The public can submit opinions, questions and suggestions about the project to the city within 10 days. The owner submits a project promotion file to the committee and the committee meets, attended by a ministry official. The clerical duties are handled by the ministry. The ministry may bring in experts from academic and research institutions, trade organizations and unions, NGOs or other organizations to the committee.
Before the first meeting of the committee, a public participation meeting is organized in which the public is informed, and their opinions, questions and suggestions are reported to the committee. The committee meets, and the owner presents the project along with the public engagement meeting report. The committee decides on a scope and format for the EIA Report. The project owner has one year to prepare and submit the EIA Report to the ministry, but can request a one-time extension of 6 months.
Upon submission of the EIA Report to the ministry, a formal auditing is carried out and if the submission is approved, the committee evaluation starts. The report is also made available to the public, with announcements. The committee meets for evaluation and issues a decision within 10 days following the meeting, also taking into account any public input. The committee may request material, or visit project sites to make a decision and for a maximum of two times, they can request revisions. The report is finalized and is submitted to the ministry by the project owner. The report is made available to the public and the ministry makes a final decision on the report taking into consideration any new public input. Finally, the ministry issues an EIA Negative or EIA Positive decision. The decision is valid for 7 years, within which the project needs to commence, otherwise the process should be repeated.
The deadlines specified for each step of the process have been revised through amendments to the EIA by-law since it was put into force in 1993. Through 7 revisions in 1997, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2014, the due dates were expedited, so that each process takes between a maximum of 3 to 10 business days (Bilgin 2015). The EIA preparation deadline for the owner is limited to one year and can be extended by six months.