What Alborz Subway Project Looks Like

EghtesadOnline: More than a decade after the subway construction plan in Alborz Province was announced, municipal bodies have stopped promising ambitious dates for its conclusion.

News ID: ۷۴۶۶۳۲

05 February 2019

A member of Karaj City Council, Mansour Vahidi says the metro project will not become operational even after 6 years, ISNA reported.

“Sadly, no meaningful progress has been seen in the subway project so far."

Officialdom always blames delays in the subway project on lack of funds while the people and independent observers point to mismanagement, Financial Tribune reported.

The subway project was launched in 2006. A 102km network of five lines is to be built in Karaj, the provincial capital that will be connected to the Tehran-Karaj metro line. Karaj is 42km west of Tehran.

Crybaby Project

Hossein Ardakani another member of the city council had earlier said over 500 workers using 420 pieces of heavy machinery are working round the clock on the project. “Lack of funds has hampered progress.”

He accused the former urban administration for undermining the project. The sitting council was elected in May 2017 and has claimed it is determined to completing the subway “as soon as possible.” This is while infrastructure for the project is not yet in place.

The project’s executive manager, Mohammad Rostami told ISNA last October that since 2007 close to 5 billion rials ($43,480) has been spent monthly on the project -- 660 billion rials ($5.2 million) so far.

So far only 15 kilometers of the tunnels have been dug.

Rostami had said that in the best-case scenario and given the current state of affairs, the first line of the subway network, which is 27km, will become operational in three years, albeit if monthly spending increases to 800 billion rials ($6.9 million). In short, he was asking for $206 million over the next three years.

The Alborz subway project is funded through several sources, including revenues from Karaj Municipality, government funding and bonds.