Tehran Metro Line 6 is to be partially launched on Sunday.
Ali Emam, CEO of Tehran Metro Group told reporters, “Nine kilometers of Line 6 with 3 stations will be launched on Sunday in the presence of President Hassan Rouhani.”
“Three stations of Line 6 in southeast Tehran will become operational. The stations include Dolat Abad, Besat, and Shohada,” ISNA quoted him as saying.
When fully constructed Line 6 will stretch over 38 km and have 27 stations. It will be the longest line in the subway network and connect Shahr-e Rey in southeastern Tehran to the famed Sulqan rural district in the northwest.
In further stages the line will be expanded to Shah Abdol-Azim Shrine in the ancient district of Rey in the south of the city.
Emam said another 15 km of Line 6 is to become operational before the current fiscal year ends in March 2020.
Shohada is a junction between lines 6 and 4. Line 4 is 22 km long with 19 main stations. It also has a branch line with two stations that can be used for getting to Mehrabad Airport in the southwest. The line connects Eram-e Sabz station in west Tehran to Shahid Kolahdooz in the east.
Issuing Bonds
Emam elaborated on Tehran Metro’s plans for funding the subway expansion projects. “With support from the Central Bank of Iran, Tehran Municipality will issue participatory bonds worth 12.8 trillion rials ($97.7 million) for constructing and expanding lines 6 and 7.”
An estimated 8.9 trillion rials ($68 million) from the bond sale is to be used for Line 7 expansion and 3.9 trillion rials ($29.7 million) for Line 6. Line 7 partially reopened in March.
“With support from Tehran City Council, the Tehran Metro Group’s budget has increased 17% for the current fiscal [started March 21] compared to last year reaching 20.6 trillion rials ($157.2 million) from 17.65 trillion rials ($134.7 million).”
Line 7
The CEO referred to other subway expansion plans on track in the capital that is home to 12 million people. He said a new phase of Line 7 will open in the coming months.
The 27 km Line 7 connects the northwest to the southeast regions, covering 25 stations. Line 7 was scheduled for launch in 2015, but after three years and billions in costs and overheads, thanks to negligence and poor management of past managers, only seven stations have been built.
Tehran Mayor Pirouz Hanachi reopened Line 7 last month that stops at three stations. With 15-minute headway between trains, commuters can take the subway from Helal Ahmar station in downtown Tehran to Tarbiat Modares station near Chamran and Jalal-e-Al-e-Ahmad expressway interchange, to Sanat Square in north Tehran.
At the time Tehran Municipality website reported that 7.5 km of the line was launched. Emam says another 8 km will become operational soon.
The hasty and premature launch of Line 7 by former mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf amid the 2017 presidential campaign was strongly criticized by urban planners and transport experts because it disregarded basic safety rules and protocols.
Qalibaf’s successor, Mohammad Ali Najafi, ordered the closure of the line lest the lives of commuters would be endangered. Hanachi, who took over from Najafi, has said all safety standards have been taken into consideration.
The senior subway official said Line 3 will stop at a new station in the upscale Aghdasieh neighborhood in northern Tehran. With 24 stations and stretching over 37 km, Line 3 traverses from northeast to southwest Tehran.
Tehran’s subway system has seven lines with nearly 100 stations. According to metro officials, after completion of all the projects, the subway will carry up to 9 million passengers every day from the present 3 million.
