Tünel

The tunnel runs uphill from near the confluence of the Golden Horn with the Bosphorus and is about 573 metres (1,880 feet) long.

Foreign embassies, hotels and commercial markets in Pera were located at the top of a steep hill while the stock exchange, banks and ports in Galata were at the bottom.

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.

Gavand came up with 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.

During the war, Gavand went to the United Kingdom and formed the Metropolitan Railway of Constantinople to develop the line.

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.

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

One car was reserved for passengers, with its two classes provided divided into separate sections for men and women.

Istanbul centre 1922 map showing the route of the Tünel
Built between 1912–1914, the Metrohan Building ( Beyoğlu station ) is the northern terminus of the Tünel. It is located at Tünel Square, near the southern end of Istiklal Avenue .
Demolition of the old Tünel Building in Karaköy (southern terminus of the Tünel, near Bankalar Caddesi ), c. 1968, before it was replaced by the current Karaköy station building.
The nostalgic tram that operates between Tünel Square (seen in this image, with the Metrohan Building in the background) and Taksim Square at the northern end of Istiklal Avenue .