Tünel

In the second half of the 19th century the neighborhoods of Pera (modern day Beyoğlu) and Galata (modern day Karaköy) had become the financial and commercial heart of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) and the Ottoman Empire. Many Ottoman and foreign companies, mostly banks and insurance companies, set up their headquarters in these two neighborhoods. Separated by a steep hill, foreign embassies, hotels and commercial markets in Pera were located at the top 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.[3]

In 1867 a French engineer, Eugène-Henri Gavand, came to Constantinople as a tourist.[3] During his visit, he was taken aback to see the number of people struggling up and down Yüksek Kaldırım Avenue. Gavand had the idea of building a funicular railway 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 railway would start from near Yüksek Kaldırım Avenue at a point close to the Galata Bridge in Galata.

On 10 June 1869 Sultan Abdülaziz 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 and there formed the Metropolitan Railway of Constantinople to construct the line. Construction began on 30 July 1871 but was delayed significantly by conflicts between landowners and the company.[3] The tunnel was not completed until December 1874, [2] and was finally opened for service on 17 January 1875.[2] Gavand was notably absent at the opening ceremony.[4]

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.[5] In 1939 it was absorbed into the new IETT (İstanbul Elektrik Tramvay ve Tünel) transportation organization.[6]

In 1968 the Tünel was closed for renovation. In 1971 it reopened, modernised and electrified.[4] In 2007 the Tünel it was restored again to strengthen the seismic resistance of the construction in a city prone to earthquakes[7]

Today, the short line is still a crucial component of the municipal transport network.

The Tünel consists of a single brick-lined tunnel measuring 554.8 metres (1,820 ft) long, 6.7 metres (22 ft) wide and 4.9 metres (16 ft) high. It has one station at either end:

• Karaköy — 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 61.55 metres (201.9 ft) 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,[3] the modern Tünel has a single track with a passing loop in the middle, a short duplex section, where two trains pass side by side.[4]

The original rolling stock on the Tünel consisted of two wooden two-car trains. One car was reserved for passengers, with two classes provided, each of which had separate sections for men and women. The other car was used to transport goods, animals and carts. Motive power was provided by steam engines.[4]

The wooden carriages were replaced in 1971 with two electrified steel cars running on pneumatic tires over concrete tracks,[8] thus similarly to the rubber-tyred metro it could be called a rubber-tyred funicular.

In 2007 yet another generation of a rolling stock was brought into operation. The maximum speed of a car is 22 km/h (14 mph). A trip between the two stations takes about 1.5 minutes, with normal waiting time 3.5 minutes. The maximum capacity of a car is 170 passengers.[4]

• Istanbul Kabataş–Taksim funicular
• Istanbul Metro
• Istanbul modern tramways
• Istanbul nostalgic tramways
• Public transport in Istanbul
• List of funicular railways

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tünel.

• İETT - Tunnel — the official portal (in English)