TEHRAN — Currently, 200 kilometers of subway lines are under construction in Tehran, Habil Darvishi, the managing director of Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company, said.

Some 100 kilometers of the railways will be inside the city and the other half will extend into the suburbs, Mehr quoted Darvishi as saying.

“We have arranged to exploit lines 6 and 7 by the end of the next [Iranian calendar] year [falling on March 21, 2017],” Darvish said.

Tehran subway system consists of five operational lines, stretching to 170 kilometers, and lines 6 and 7 are under construction. The lines link south to north, east to west and are gradually covering more neighborhoods.

By completing the two aforementioned lines 70 kilometers will be added to the current railways, he highlighted, adding that, by the end of the next Iranian calendar year the total number of passengers taking the subway will reach up to nine million per day.

He went on to say that the plans for lines 8 and 9 are also afoot.

“We need 8,000 wagons and with the existing infrastructure the addition of the wagons will double the passenger load of the subway system,” Darvishi stated

“Sanctions have certainly had far too many negative impacts on the subway development but as the experience shows we have always narrowed our focus on local manpower when we are in a double whammy [such as sanctions],” he added.

He believed that the sanctions, though restrictive, have even made them more powerful. “We are 100 percent independent in tunnel excavation and we can export our knowledge to neighboring countries.”

He further claimed that by using domestically produced equipment and Iranian engineers Iran is making the cheapest subway in the world.

Darvishi also commented on the subway’s great impacts on reducing air pollution as metropolises in Iran have been experiencing prolonged air pollution spells for the past years.

MQ

CAPTION: An undated picture showing the ongoing construction of Tehran subway line 3.
Mehr/ Mohammad Moheiman