Tehran Municipality has recently signed a contract for the acquisition of 65 trains for the Tehran Metro.

The trains comprise both new and refurbished units to be manufactured by Tehran Wagon Manufacturing though its joint venture with an unnamed Chinese trains manufacturer, according to a source familiar with the transaction.

Current regulations in Iran require international train suppliers to manufacture at least 51 per cent of trains procured locally.

The acquisition of the trains will be fully financed by the Tehran Municipality.

The Tehran Metro transported more than 800 million riders in 2015 over a network that extends 170 kilometres.

Two metro lines, Line 6 and Line 7, are under construction and are expected to be completed before end of 2017.

Tehran Metro has said it requires a total of 3,000 train cars over the next 10 years to cater to the demand for public transport in the Islamic Republic’s capital.

It is understood that negotiations are ongoing between the Tehran Municipality and a number of investors from Europe, China and Japan for funding three additional metro lines (8, 9 and 10). Each of the planned metro lines will be about 30 kilometres long. The total investment required for the lines could reach $5.8bn, or an estimated $65m per kilometre, inclusive of the cost of construction, rolling stock and systems.

The Tehran Municipality has proposed a budget of $5.6bn for the next fiscal year, which starts in March. The budget is still waiting final approval from the parliament.