Mashhad Urban Railway ( fa, قطار شهری مشهد, ''Qâtar-e Shiheri Mishhed'', the literal translation of the name from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

) is a

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

urban rail line in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. It is the second rapid transit system in Iran. The project has been known by a number of terms, including "light rail" or "light metro" and "urban rail" or "metro", though the system's full-grade separation from traffic and five-minute headway fully qualify it as a rapid transit or "metro" system. Mashhad Urban Railway operates its line 1 from 6 to 22:00 daily. Construction of the second line which is a metro line is ongoing. Limited operation of the first phase of line 2, with and 9 stations, had just begun in Feb 2017. tunnel excavation of the first phase of line 3 was started in 2015. Construction of line 1 began in 1999, with the inauguration of Line 1 taking place on 24 April 2011.

Network

Line 1

The , 22 station Line 1 was the first line to be built; it opened for service on 24 April 2011. Line 1 runs between Nakhrisi in the east and Vakilabad in the southwest, with travel time of 41 minutes. Approximately half the route is in tunnels; the rest is at ground level.

Line 1 Expansion

Expansion of Line 1 added of underground railroads and 2 stations (Reyhane and HashemiNezhadAirport), connecting

Mashhad International Airport Mashhad International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بین‌المللی مشهد) is an international airport located in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Overview Mashhad international airport is the Iran's second-busiest airport, behind Te ...

to the Mashhad Urban Railway. Line 1 reached a total of 24 stations (13 underground, 11 on-ground) along of track, as in tunnels plus on-ground, and a ridership capacity of 170,000 passengers per day, along with daily operation between 6 AM and 10 PM. Also making Mashhad the first city in Iran to have a Metro system connected to an Airport.

Line 2

Line 2 is a conventional heavy metro, running north–south for between Koohsangi and Tabarsi with 13 stations, Excavation was done by two

Tunnel Boring Machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...

s (TBMs). From Feb 2017 limited operation of the first phase of line 2 began. Mashhad urban railway system is connected to the inter-urban railway system in Rahahan Station. On 20 March 2018 pilot operation of the first interchange station in Mashhad railway system was started. On 7 May 2018 Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...

took part in the inauguration ceremony of the first Mashhad Urban Railway interchange station "Shariati" which connects line 1 and 2. On July 27th, 2019 Shahid Kaveh Station Operation Began. currently, line 2 operates everyday with 13.5 km and 12 stations from 6 AM to 10 PM and the current headway is 10 minutes.

Line 3

Line 3's construction has begun, with TBMs doing the excavation. Currently more than excavation has been finished.

Further Development

Another additional line is planned. Line 4 with length has been approved, and the studies for line 4 are reaching completion and final approval level. Tunnel Excavation of Line 4 will begin in Summer 2021.

Rolling stock

A fleet of 60low-floor LRVs was ordered from Chinese

Changchun Railway Vehicles CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer and a division of the CRRC. While the CRV emerged in 2002, the company's roots date back to the establishment of the Changchun Car Company in 1954. The company be ...

for line 1. These mark the first time that light rail vehicles have been exported to a customer outside

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. A fleet of 100 metro trains has been ordered to CNR. 85 of them will be assembled in Iran by TWM. Currently, 70 of them are delivered and in-service condition.

Network Map

References

External links

Mashad Urban Railway Corp(MURCO)

Mashad Urban Railway Operation Company(MUROC)
{{Rapid transit in Asia Standard gauge railways in Iran Transportation in Razavi Khorasan Province Underground rapid transit systems in Iran