ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday opened the country’s first driverless metro line, an eagerly awaited project expected to relieve congestion in a traffic-choked area of Istanbul.

The new metro line connects Uskudar on the Asian side of Istanbul with the residential and business area of Umraniye, also on the Asian side, bringing relief to Istanbul residents who for years have endured sometimes unimaginable traffic.

More new metro lines are expected to be opened in the next years as Erdogan seeks to bolster his image as a politician who can realise his self-proclaimed “crazy projects”.—AFP