Urban managers of Qom say that in the next Iranian year (starting March 20, 2020) the holy city’s subway network will partially become operational.
Speaking to Borna News, Qom Mayor Seyyed Morteza Saqqaian-Nejad said work has been on track to develop the city’s subway infrastructures to ease passenger transportation.
"Over 5 kilometers of the mapped subway network will be launched and people in the holy city will be able to commute through the subway—the zero-emission means of transportation," Saqqaian-Nejad added.
The mayor noted that the government has agreed to allocate 12 trillion rials ($105.7 million) for purchasing 80 subway cars, which would make 10 complete trains.
He did not provide more details about the city’s subway network.
Provincial officials say accelerating the construction of subway is essential for the shrine city, as the increasing urban development, aging public transportation fleet and substandard vehicles plying the streets are worsening its air pollution.
“As a clean means of transportation, a subway can help tackle these issues, which are common to all metropolises,” Saqqaian-Nejad added.
Bus Fleet
Besides the under-construction metro network, 300 buses are operating in the city's transport fleet, although 170 are dilapidated and spew poison into the air.
“To alleviate the problem, the bus transport fleet is being upgraded and 104 new buses were recently purchased by the city's municipality, half of which has been added to the city’s transport system,” Bahram Sarmast, Qom's governor general, said.
According to Sarmast, 50 of these buses have become operational while "the remaining 54 are currently awaiting permits".
Further information on the manufacturer and the price of new buses were not furnished.
Qom Municipality has reported that since 2017, 100 new buses have been added to the transport fleet of the city.
