Baghdad metro discussions stall

06 September 2010

Politics and security in Iraq are hindering plans for the metro

Plans to start work on the $3bn Baghdad metro have stalled due to the political situation in Iraq.

“The discussions for the Baghdad metro have stalled most probably due to the difficult situation in Iraq,” says a source close to the project. “Hopefully, we will see some progress after Ramadan.”

The discussions for the Baghdad metro have stalled most probably due to the difficult situation in Iraq

Originally, firms were expecting to be invited for the feasibility study and design of the metro after Ramadan. The authorities in Baghdad, however, are still reviewing the technical studies for the metro project and the budget for the feasibility study.

Baghdad Municipality plans to fund the metro project directly (MEED 8:6:10).

It is likely to take up to 10 months to complete the design work so construction is not expected to start until the end of 2011 at the earliest.

The metro will be built in two phases comprising two lines.

The first 18-kilometre line will run from the predominantly Shi’ite Sadr City in the east through the city centre and then north and will have 20 stations.

The second line will run 21km starting in the south of the city before crossing the river Tigris and on to the mostly Sunni neighbourhoods in west Baghdad. This line will have 21 stations.

France’s Systra is supervising the project.

The plans for the metro date back to the late 1970s and had it been built then, it would have been the first urban railway in the Arab world. Instead, the plans were shelved due to Iraq’s 1980-88 war with Iran.

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