More than a decade has passed since the subway construction plan in Alborz Province, west of Tehran was announced. But no progress has been made and municipal bodies blame the delays on lack of funds while some observers point to the mismanagement.
The subway project was launched in 2006. A 102km network of five lines is to be constructed in Karaj, the provincial capital that will be connected to the busy Tehran-Karaj metro line, ISNA reported.
A member of Karaj City Council, Hossein Ardakani, says, “Over 500 workers using 420 pieces of heavy machinery are working round the clock on the project. Lack of funds has hampered progress.”
Ardakani accused the former urban administration of the city for undermining the project. The current city council was elected in May 2017.
He said the council is determined to complete the subway as soon as possible.
While officials with the Karaj City Council are promising ambitious dates for completion of the subway, the required infrastructure for the project is yet to be constructed.
The project's executive manager, Mohammad Rostami says since 2007 close to 5 billion rials ($35,714) has been spent monthly on the project taking the total to 660 billion rials ($4.7 million).
However, so far only 15 kilometers of the tunnels have been dug, indicating a meager 14% progress.
Rostami further said that in the best case scenario and considering the current state of the affairs, the first line of the subway network, which will be 27km, will become operational in three years, only if monthly spending increases to 800 billion rials ($5.7 million). In short, Rostami is asking for a $206 million investment over the next three years.
The Alborz subway project is funded through several sources, including revenues from Karaj Municipality, funds allocated by the government, loans from Chinese institutions and investment bonds.
