The World Bank recently approved the financing of US $2 billion for the trans sea railway project in northern Istanbul, Türkiye, with a total investment of US $8.3 billion, which is the largest trans sea infrastructure project in Türkiye in recent years. According to the announcement of the Ministry of Transport of Türkiye in February 2026, the project has reached a financing agreement of US $6.75 billion with six institutions, including the World Bank, the Asian Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. With this capital injection, the total amount of international financing is nearly US $8.75 billion, and the capital chain is basically locked.

Freight capacity jumps 16 times

INRAIL is 127 kilometers long, spanning the Bosphorus Strait, connecting Kocaeli Province and Istanbul, linking two important airports, and expanding based on the existing track of the Sultan Selim Bridge. After completion, the railway freight capacity of the Straits will increase from 3 million tons to 50 million tons per year, an increase of more than 16 times, which will greatly ease the railway bottleneck in western Türkiye and significantly improve the efficiency of multimodal transport.

6 international organizations jointly invest

In addition to the World Bank's US $2 billion, the project has received a total commitment of US $4.75 billion from the Asian Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with a total of US $6.75 billion in international financing. The rest is borne by the government of Türkiye. World Bank Türkiye Affairs Director Lopez said that the project will eliminate the railway bottleneck in the Istanbul Strait and consolidate Türkiye's position as a Eurasian logistics hub.

At present, the uncertainty of transportation in the direction of the Black Sea Russia is rising. As an alternative channel connecting China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Europe, the Middle Corridor is rapidly warming up. Türkiye is the key terminal. The joint capital injection of six international institutions shows that the international capital market has regarded the project as a regional public infrastructure, recognized its economic spillover and Türkiye's strong infrastructure implementation capacity. Keywords: Northern Railway, Cross Sea Project

According to the prediction of the Asian Development Bank, the freight volume of the Central Corridor will increase by more than three times by 2030. As the core node of the corridor in Turkey, INRAIL's completion will directly improve the efficiency of Eurasian logistics and provide more stable channel support for trade between countries along the route.Editor/Cheng Liting