Halkapınar—Otogar Line

Halkapınar—Otogar Line
The western terminus of the line, Halkapınar Transfer Center.
Overview
Native name	Halkapınar—Otogar Hattı
Type	Rapid transit
System	İzmir Metro
Status	Planned
Locale	İzmir, Turkey
Termini	Halkapınar, Konak (West) Otogar, Bornova (East)
Stations	5
Operation
Owner	İzmir Metropolitan Municipality
Operator(s)	İzmir Metro A.Ş.
Technical
Line length	4.5 km (2.8 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750V DC Third rail

The Halkapınar—Otogar Line (Turkish: Halkapınar—Otogar Hattı) is a planned rapid transit line in İzmir, Turkey. The line has a total length of 4.5 km (2.8 mi) and would begin at Halkapınar Transfer Center and run southeast along Kamil Tunca Boulevard to the İzmir Bus Terminal (Turkish: Otogar). Construction of the line was approved in May 2017 and is expected to begin in December 2017 or January 2018.

The Halkapınar—Otogar Line was originally planned in 2005 by the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. The line was planned to diverge from the Fahrettin Altay—Evka 3 Line at Halkapınar and run underneath Kamil Tunca Boulevard to the İzmir Bus Terminal. Since Kamil Tunca Boulevard was built on an old railway branch, the land was still owned by the Turkish State Railways. The city municipality bought the land for 22 million YTL (appr. 18.8 million USD at the time) and finalized plans. However construction was later halted by the Ministry of Transport which later acquired the project from the city.

The Ministry of Transport re-planned the line to include it within the Ankara-İzmir high-speed railway, on which construction began in 2013. The ministry included the Halkapınar—Otogar line within their 2014-17 budget and in April 2017 submitted the project for an environmental impact report, which was completed in May. The route of the line remained the same but will be constructed together with a heavy rail line. A total of four new stations will be built. These stations are: Vakıflar, Çamdibi, Altındağ and Otogar.

From a public statement issued by the State Railways, construction of the line is expected to start in December 2017 or January 2018.