A lawmaker said the ministry of roads and urban development is planning to use Chinese finance for several railway projects. Ebrahim Karkhaneh said one of the national projects which uses Chinese finance is Tehran-Hamedan railway which will become operational by 2016. The project was approved by the parliament in 2005 and started in 2006. The 260-kilometer route from Tehran to the western city of Hamedan will later continue another 150 kilometers towards Sanandaj in the northwest of the country.