Marmaray has served 1.2 billion passengers in 11 years.

Here is the translated text while preserving the original HTML structure, including the translation of the `title` and `alt` attributes within any `img` tags (though there are no `img` tags in the provided text):



```html

Minister Uraloğlu, in his written statement, reminded that Marmaray was put into service by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 29, 2013.

Uraloğlu, expressing the pride and happiness of celebrating Marmaray's 11th anniversary on the 101st anniversary of the Republic, stated, "Marmaray, Turkey's 164-year dream, came to life with the first dig struck in August 2004. Since its opening, Marmaray has served 1 billion 205 million passengers. With our line, our citizens can cross the distance between Sirkeci and Üsküdar in just 4 minutes, unaffected by weather conditions." he said.

Uraloğlu emphasized that Marmaray connects two continents with the world's deepest immersed tube tunnel at a depth of 60.46 meters compared to its counterparts.

"COMFORTABLE AND EASY TRAVEL"

Pointing out that Marmaray provides a healthy, modern urban life for Istanbul and offers long-term solutions to the city's transportation problems, Uraloğlu stated that Marmaray has connections with various stations through metro, metrobüs, city line ferries, and trams:

"Operated by TCDD Taşımacılık, Marmaray has significantly increased the quality of life in Istanbul. Istanbulites, who used to be stuck in traffic for hours to get from one place to another, can now travel comfortably and easily within a structure of 76.6 kilometers and 43 stations, with integrated systems provided to these locations. The number of passengers, which was approximately 9 million in 2013, reached 208 million in the first 10 months of this year."

"SERVING AN AVERAGE OF 650 THOUSAND PASSENGERS PER DAY"

Uraloğlu highlighted that there are 148 train services daily between Halkalı and Gebze, at 15-minute intervals, and 139 train services between Pendik and Ataköy, at 7.5-minute intervals.

Stating that there are 287 services per day, with an additional 10 services at night, increasing the number of services to 297 on weekends, Uraloğlu shared the information that "In Marmaray operations, there is a fleet of 440 vehicles consisting of 54 train sets, including 34 sets with 10 cars and 20 sets with 5 cars. Marmaray serves an average of 650 thousand passengers daily."

MARMARAY ALSO PLAYED A ROLE IN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION

Uraloğlu pointed out that Marmaray has also played a critical role in international freight transportation, noting: Since the Marmaray Bosphorus tunnel crossing, the golden link of the Middle Corridor, 3,969 freight trains have passed, including 2,088 freight trains heading to Europe and 1,881 freight trains heading to Asia, most of which carried export cargo. Turkey continues to play an important role in global trade with new logistics corridors and successful operational processes.