PodcastIstanbul ferries to run 24/7 once plan gets green light from city council
The Istanbul City Lines has announced that ferry services will be operational for 24 hours once the plan is approved by the municipal council. “We will execute a system in which ferries will operate 24 hours in the Bosphorus following the decision [of the city council],” Sinem Dedetaş, the head of the City Lines, said on Jan. 27.
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Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s (İBB) subsidiary sea transport company City Lines ("Şehir Hatları") has announced its ferry services will start operating 24/7 once the plan gets approved by the city council.
“We will execute a system through which ferries will operate 24 hours [every day] in the Bosphorus following the decision [of the city council],” Sinem Dedetaş, the head of the company, was quoted as saying by Turkish media outlets on Jan. 27.
The Istanbul City Lines' move follows a similar decision taken in September concerning the ferry route between Bostancı pier on the Anatolian aside and Princes' Islands (“Adalar” in Turkish). The company has been offering 24-hour ferry service on this route since September.
Dedetaş said that currently the City Lines' ferries make 621 voyages per day on 21 routes. She said a total of 42.5 million people had utilized these ferry services in 2019 but they would like to take steps that will increase this figure further.
Electric ferries
Dedetaş also said that among their future plans is to put electric ferries into operation due to environmental purposes.
“We have lagged behind other countries regarding this issue. We have started the feasibility of this project on paper. The issue of electric ferries is one of the topics that the Industry and Technology Ministry is giving importance. The City Lines has assumed the coordination for projects undertaken by the ministry regarding this issue,” she said.