A joint venture between Salini Impregilo, Italy’s largest contractor, and Kolin Ä°nÅŸaat of Ankara has been awarded a contract to build the Turkish section of the Orient Express, part of the Orient/Eastâ€Med corridor that runs from northern Germany to Greece and Turkey.
The €530m project, which is expected to take four years to complete, will run for 153km between Istanbul and the Bulgarian border.
Salini Impregilo will lead with a 50.01% stake, the company said.
The project will be overseen by the Directorate General of Turkish State Railways, and is receiving funding from the EU.
The Orient/Eastâ€Med corridor (European Commission)
It will replace a single track line with a double track, and will allow train speeds of 200km/h. The contract also includes electrification, signalling and other auxiliary civil works
Salini Impregilo has been present in Turkey since 1966. Previous schemes include the Keban Hydroelectric Project on the Euphrates, highway projects worth a combined €2.5bn and the second bridge over the Bosporus.
Top image: Trains on the line will be able to run at up to 200km/h (Denizcan Dorsam/CC BY-SA 3.0)
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