Baghdad Metro

The Baghdad Metro is a proposed rapid transit in the form of an elevated railway, network for the Iraqi city of Baghdad. Construction is expected to start around Q2 2022 and finish in 2027.

Background

Commuter rail service

The Baghdad commuter rail service operated by the state owned Iraqi Republic Railways. It resumed operation in October 2008. The train ran about between Baghdad Central Station and the southern neighbourhood of Dora. It operates two round trips a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The Baghdad Metro and the passenger train that runs between Baghdad and Basra, which resumed service in 2007, were the first two regular passenger services to resume in Iraq since the Iraq War.

The rolling stock for the commuter train entered service in 1983.

In February 2009 Iraqi Republic Railways introduced a passenger service between Baghdad and Fallujah. IRR intends in future to extend the service to Ramadi.

Previous metro proposals

Saddam Hussein launched the multi-billion-dollar subway project in 1983 to alleviate traffic congestion in Baghdad's streets. Because of the Iran–Iraq War the project could not be finished.

At a December 2002 press conference, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke of "enormous miles and miles and miles of underground tunnelling" that prevented the United Nations from properly inspecting Saddam's WMD stocks. Hussein al-Shahristani, a scientist imprisoned by Saddam, told CBS's ''60 Minutes'', "We believe now it is more than 100 kilometres of very complex network, multilayer tunnels."

Since the 2003 Iraq War, traffic problems in Baghdad have increased significantly, because of the creation of the Green Zone, and the reduction of car-ownership regulation.
In November 2008, Baghdad mayor Sabir al-Isawi announced plans for a 2-line $US 3 billion expansion of metro services in the city which would be built pending funding. One line would run from Sadr City (previously called Al-Thawra or Saddam City) to A'dhamiya, while the other would link the center of Baghdad with its western suburbs. Each line would have 20 stations. In February 2011, an agreement was signed with Alstom, for the construction of a 25 km line from central Baghdad to the northern suburbs of Adhamiya, Al-Hurriya, Kadhimiya, and Sha'ab. Later in 2011 Alstom and the Iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Alstom to design, build and operate a Baghdad–Basra high-speed rail line.

Current status

In 2017, ''Metro Report'' stated that a memorandum of understanding for the development of urban rail projects in Baghdad and Basra had been signed by the Iraqi government and Alstom that year, for a 20 km elevated light rail line in Baghdad that would link Mustansiriyah, Shaab, Wazireya, Alsarafiya bridge, Al-Khadumia, Al-Muthanna airport and Allawi.

In 2019, it was confirmed that a French-South Korean consortium would begin ground work on the metro in 2020, at a cost of $2.5 billion.

In February 2022, it was announced the work would begin on the project in Q2 2022 and will finish in 2027, after sufficient funds for the project have been raised in the 2020-21 budgets and the future 2022 budget, which is still waiting for approval. The announcement came after the awarding of the projects to the French transport giant Alstom and Hyundai of South Korea.

References

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Transport in Baghdad
Rail transport in Iraq
Proposed rapid transit