The Tünel (, designated as the F2 line on the Istanbul transport map) is a historic, underground, rubber-tyred

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

line in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. It has two stations, connecting

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest and mo ...

and

Beyoğlu Beyoğlu (; ) is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 9 km2, and its population is 225,920 (2022). It is on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the o ...

. The tunnel runs uphill from near the confluence of the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( or ) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the ...

with the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

and is about long. It was inaugurated on 17 January 1875.

History

In the second half of the 19th century the neighbourhoods of Pera (modern day Beyoğlu) and Galata (modern day

) had become the financial and commercial heart of

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(modern day Istanbul) and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Many Ottoman and foreign companies, mostly banks and insurance companies, set up their headquarters in these two neighbourhoods. Foreign embassies, hotels and commercial markets in Pera were located at the top of a steep hill while the stock exchange, banks and ports in Galata were at the bottom. Travelling between these two districts was challenging, since grades were as steep as 24%. The main street between these two areas, Yüksek Kaldırım (High Pavement) Avenue, saw an average of 40,000 people walking up and down it daily. In 1867 a French engineer, Eugène-Henri Gavand, went to Istanbul, (Constantinople) as a tourist. During his visit, he was taken aback to see the number of people struggling up and down Yüksek Kaldırım Avenue. Gavand came up with the idea of building a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

that would ascend and descend the hill and went back to France shortly after to prepare his project. He returned to Constantinople in February 1868 to present his project to the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

. The railway would start from near Yüksek Kaldırım Avenue at a point close to the

Galata Bridge The Galata Bridge (, ) is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels. The current Galata Bridge is just the la ...

in Galata. On 10 June 1869

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...

granted Gavand a concession to build the railway. He worked with shareholders in France to start a company to build the railway, but eventually the Prussian invasion of France made the formation of a French-based company impossible. During the war, Gavand went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and formed the ''Metropolitan Railway of Constantinople'' to develop the line. Construction began on 30 July 1871 but was delayed by conflicts between landowners and the company. The tunnel was not completed until December 1874, and finally opened for service on 17 January 1875. Gavand was notably absent at the opening ceremony. The Metropolitan Railway company gained a fresh 75-year concession in 1904. In 1911, after some alterations, the rights to the Tünel were transferred to the new multinational consortium, ''Union Ottoman Société d'Intrepises Electriques à Constantinople''. which encompassed the Tünel, the trams, and the Ottoman Joint Stock Electric Company. In 1939 it was absorbed into the new IETT (İstanbul Elektrik Tramvay ve Tünel) transport organisation. In 1968 the Tünel was closed for renovation. In 1971 it reopened, having been modernised and electrified. In 2007 the Tünel was restored again to strengthen its seismic resistance in a city prone to earthquakes. Today, the short line is still a crucial component of the municipal transport network.

Description

The Tünel consists of a single brick-lined tunnel measuring long, wide and high. It has one station at either end: *

— the lower station, located at the eastern end of Tersane Avenue * Tünel — the upper station on Tünel Square (''Tünel Meydanı''), located at the southern end of Istiklal Avenue The upper station stands above the lower one. The gradient of the tunnel varies along its length from 2 percent to 15 percent. Originally built with two parallel tracks, the modern Tünel has a single track with a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

in the middle, a short duplex section, where two trains pass side by side.

Rolling stock

The original

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

consisted of two wooden two-car trains. One car was reserved for passengers, with its two classes provided divided into separate sections for men and women. The other car was used to transport goods, animals and carts. Motive power was provided by steam engines. The wooden carriages were replaced in 1971 with two electrified steel cars running on pneumatic tires over concrete tracks, thus similarly to the

rubber-tyred metro A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road transport, road and rail transport, rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on a roll way inside guide bars for tr ...

it could be called a ''rubber-tyred funicular''. In 2007 a new generation of a rolling stock was brought into operation. Today each car can carry 170 passengers and travels at a maximum speed of . A trip from top to bottom takes about 1.5 minutes, with normal waiting time 3.5 minutes. In 2021 the first female driver joined the staff of the Tünel.

Gallery

References

External links