By Gul Tuysuz and Ivan Watson, October 30, 2013
Fireworks explode above the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday, October 29, during the anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic. Turkey formally opened the world's first sea tunnel connecting two continents. The 8.5-mile long tunnel linking Istanbul's European and Asian sides includes an immersed tube tunnel which officials say is the world's deepest, at nearly 200 feet below the sea level.
Istanbul's new transcontinental train tunnel under the Bosphorus Strait had a bumpy first day of operation, a day after Turkey's Prime Minister called it a "project for whole humanity" at an inaugural ceremony.
On Wednesday, Turkey's state railway confirmed reports there had been a power outage in the tunnel system
.
"Emergency situation
procedures" were also carried out multiple times, the agency said in a
statement posted online, because passengers hit emergency buttons aboard
the trains.
Turkish journalists complained of being barred from entry into the railway system after the breakdowns took place.
"Security personnel told
journalists filming video, 'We received orders. It is not allowed to
film anymore,' " Turkish news agency DHA reported Wednesday.
Amateur video posted on
YouTube showed scores of passengers leaving a stopped train and walking
down the long tube that has been constructed underneath the rushing
waters of the Bosphorus Strait, effectively linking the European and
Asian halves of Turkey's largest city.
Because of an
unexpectedly large volume of curious first-time passengers, the railway
agency also said it had decided to skip one of the stops on the train's
transcontinental route.
The Marmaray Tunnel is part of a $4.5 billion, 76-kilometer (47-mile) megaproject launched by the Turkish government in 2004.
Speaking at a
ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Japan's Prime Minister, Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the project "connects history
and future, past and future; as well as connecting continents, Marmaray
connects people, nations and countries."
The rail system, built
by a Turkish-Japanese consortium, is expected to have a capacity of 1.5
million people a day, connecting the two continents in about four
minutes. The 13.6-kilometer (8.5-mile) tunnel -- the deepest of its kind
-- passes under the Bosphorus Strait, one of the busiest shipping
arteries in the world.
The financial capital of
Istanbul, with a population of nearly 15 million people, is often
snarled with traffic, with about 2 million residents making the crossing
between continents on a daily basis.
Beyond the size of such
an undertaking, digging for the Marmaray uncovered about 40,000
artifacts and helped archaeologists trace Istanbul's history back 8,500
years, 2,500 more than ever believed before.
However, the discoveries
delayed the project for four years, which frustrated the Prime Minister
who, analysts and businessmen say, wants to put a permanent imprint on
Turkey's financial capital.
The project also had to
account for Turkey's long history of violent earthquakes and the
tunnel's position parallel to a major fault line. Transport minister
Binali Yildirim has outlined the precautions, saying the tunnel allows
movement and is designed to handle a quake of 9.0 magnitude.
The Turkish government
has also begun construction of a third suspension bridge across the
Bosphorus Strait. It also plans to build a third airport for Istanbul
and dredge a canal to run parallel to the Bosphorus.
The massive government-backed development projects have become a politically polarizing issue in Turkey.
Anti-government protests
erupted last summer after the government announced plans to bulldoze a
park in central Istanbul and replace it with a shopping mall.
As government officials
and crowds of supporters applauded the Marmaray tunnel's inauguration
Tuesday, in other parts of Istanbul, riot police clashed with
demonstrators protesting the Turkish government.
People travel from the Uskudar to the Yenikapi station on the day of the inauguration of the tunnel.