Tehran Municipality’s investment organization will inject non-cash resources worth 22 trillion rials ($76.65 million) to boost the construction of Tehran Metro’s Line 10.
Shokrollah Banar, the head of the organization, said TM’s investment is in the form of immovable resources, the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
In addition, arrangements have been made with Tehran City Council’s Plan and Budget Commission and Tehran Metro Company for the allocation of non-cash resources. The next step should be taken by Tehran Metro Company to introduce an eligible contractor company,” he added.
According to Banar, TM’s investment organization is committed to extend non-cash fund resources worth 74 trillion rials ($258 million) before the end of the current fiscal year (March 2021).
The construction of Line 10, which is the largest urban development project in the past several years, was launched in early September. The project has been split into five phases, the first of which covers 12 kilometers in the northwestern part of the city, linking Kouhsar in District 5 to the international exhibition center.
Khatam-al Anbiya, the construction arm of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, is the contractor of the project’s first phase.
The next phase will most probably be the line’s western flank in District 22.
According to Tehran Metro's CEO Ali Emam, the reason for prioritizing the construction of the northern and western sections’ Line 10 is that citizens in these areas have poor access to public means of transportation.
The district spans over 5,500 hectares in the western part of the capital and includes vast residential, recreational and tourism facilities.
Emam noted that as urban development is growing in the area, traffic congestion will definitely grow.
Officials believe that in addition to developing the urban transport fleet, the establishment of the new subway line will ease road traffic and air pollution.
“All Line 10 sections are fully mapped and ready, and Tehran Metro Company is prepared to break ground on the project in the eastern part of the city by the beginning of the next [Iranian] year [March 2021],” he said.
The timely start, however, depends on financial resources allocated to the project.
Emam noted that with no barriers in the way, Line 10 is expected to become fully operational within five years.
Line 10 will be 43 kilometers long and link up with lines 4, 3, 1, 7, 6, 9 and 5 from east to west of the city, crossing the northernmost areas. Line 9 is in the design phase and the partly operational lines 6 and 7 are still under construction.
With 35 stations, Line 10 is to start from Qanat Kosar in the east and link to Vardavard Station on Line 5 that connects Sadeqiyeh to the west of Karaj, the provincial center of Alborz.
Tehran Metro's CEO also said an estimated 33% of subway passengers are daily commuters from the neighboring Alborz Province to destinations in districts 2, 5 and 22.
“The completion of the line is expected to lighten passenger traffic in the already operating subway lines,” he added.
Plans for Line 7
To speed up the development of traffic-free, green means of transportation, urban managers have also put the completion of Line 7 high on the agenda.
The 27-km-long line, which connects the northwest to southeastern parts of Tehran, will have 25 stations after completion. Currently, 11 stations are operational along the line.
According to Emam, the construction of 5 kilometers of the northwestern flank of Line 7, covering three stations: Ashrafi Isfahani, the Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch and North Jannatabad, and a subway terminal in the far north will start soon.
The would-be subway terminal will help reduce the headway, ease parking problems and help renovate the wagons.
Line 7 was partially opened in June 2017 by Tehran's former mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, during his 2017 presidential election campaign.
The line’s premature launch was strongly criticized by public transport experts and urban planners, because it disregarded safety rules and protocols.
Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi now says all safety standards have been observed.
Fiscal Deficit
Officials are planning new subway lines, according to the head of Tehran City Council’s Transportation Commission, but the subway network of Tehran needs 2 quadrillion rials ($6.96 billion) for the construction of incomplete lines, purchase of train cars and standardization of equipment.
Mohammad Alikhani added that due to the negative effects of US sanctions reimposed in the summer of 2018, Iran’s rial is losing value against hard currencies, making it a tough task to expand and renew the ailing public transportation in Tehran.
Since the US reimposed sanctions against Iran in 2018, the rial has lost 70% of its value against the greenback over the past year. On Wednesday, the US dollar was traded at 287,000 rials in Tehran while it hardly fetched 42,000 rials in March 2018.
“A train wagon cost 50 billion rials a couple of years ago, but now the price reaches 200 billion rials, which Tehran Municipality cannot presently afford,” he added.
Speaking to reporters, Mohsen Hashemi, the head of TCC, expressed disquiet over Tehran Subway’s shortfalls.
“While the subway lines have been extended around the city by 80 kilometers in the past several years, not enough trains have been added to the metro network,” he added.
Hashemi noted that for each kilometer of the subway, there was 1.1 train wagons.
“Today, the figure has fallen by 30%, which means that for each kilometer of the operating subway line, there are 0.8 train cars,” he said.
Tehran’s subway network stretches over 220 kilometers and comprises seven lines (1 to 7) with nearly 120 stations.
How Tehran Metro’s managers will address the shortfalls under the current economic constraints remains to be seen.
