Turkey’s first driverless metro train to open on Friday

By Adem Demir

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s first automated urban metro system will be launched on Friday in the country’s largest city of Istanbul, according to the Istanbul Megacity Municipality.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will inaugurate the first phase of Uskudar-Sancaktepe Metro line in the Asian part of the city, said the authority in a statement.

The 10.5-kilometer part of the 20 kilometer-long metro line from Uskudar to Umraniye will be opened for mass transportation and the remaining part will be launched in June 2018.

The full-length line consists of 16 stations and will carry 700,000 passengers per day when it is completely functional.

The line will be integrated with two major intercontinental mass transportation lines -- Metrobus land road and Marmaray intercontinental subway -- which connect Asian and European parts of the city.