Tehran Metro Expansion Plan Facing $8 Billion Deficit

The unfinished subway network in the capital city of Tehran needs 2 quadrillion rials ($8.1 billion) of budget for the construction of unfinished lines, purchase of train cars and standardization of equipment, the head of Tehran City Council’s Transportation Commission said.
Speaking at TCC’s meeting on Sunday, Mohammad Alikhani added that due to the negative effects of US sanctions since 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, Mehr News Agency reported. 
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 Monday, the US dollar was traded at 248,000 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 afford at present,” he added.