Prysmian Fire Safety cables to power the new Istanbul metro line

More than 1,500 Km of Medium and Low Voltage fire resistant cables will be supplied

Prysmian, a leading worldwide player in the energy and telecommunication cables industry, will supply the Avrasya Metro Group (AMG) with Afumex™ power cables, able to guarantee safety if fire were to break out in the new Kadiköy-Kartal metro line in Istanbul, Turkey.

With 16 stations, 22 kilometres of double track and eight-car trains travelling in both directions every 1.5 minutes, the Kadikoy-Kartal metro line will cross the Anatolian side of Istanbul from Kadiköy to Kartal, connecting the European and Asian sides of the city with a link to the Marmaray rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait.

The system will provide secure and fast transportation across the city, carrying up to 90,000 persons/hour in both directions for a total of one million passengers a day.

Construction is expected to take 19 months and to be completed by the end of 2011, and will require Prysmian to supply 300 km of Medium Voltage wired armoured cables and more than 1,300 km of Low Voltage Fire Resistant and Low Fire-Hazard (LS0H) Afumex™ cables.

The Afumex™ family of cables combines low flame spread and heat release with very low emission of smoke and dangerous gases, and helps to provide more time to escape and a less hazardous environment for rescue teams. Fire Resistant cables also assure continuous operation of the power supply and of signalling systems during a fire.

“Prysmian cable solutions will provide a reliable and efficient power supply to the Kadiköy-Kartal metro line, a project of strategic importance in a city like Istanbul, at the heart of Turkey’s economic development and whose 13 million inhabitants account for 20% of the country’s entire population” said Hans Hoegstedt, Prysmian Power Distribution - Trade & Installers Director. “The main cause of injury and death in fires is incapacitation resulting from exposure to fire effluent caused by inappropriate materials. Our Afumex™ cables can help prevent the propagation of a fire and produce the least opaque smoke and harmful emissions as possible, essential in infrastructure projects.”

Prysmian has installed its Fire Resistant, Low Fire-Hazard cables in some of the world’s most prestigious buildings, such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires, Hamburg airport and the Wimbledon tennis stadium.