TEHRAN — Some 353 kilometers of subway lines and 250 subway stations are under construction nationwide, the director for railway transportation department at the Interior Ministry has said.

“We are planning on constructing and completing subway railways for metropolises of Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz, Karaj, Ahvaz, Qom, and Kermanshah for a total population of 20 million,” Hossein Rajab-Salahi told IRNA on Saturday.

So far, 9 subway lines to the total length of 225 kilometers and 140 subway stations have been completed nationwide, Rajab-Salahi noted.

He went on say that based on a contract signed between Iran and China, a Chinese company has committed to provide 315 wagons to Iran, 100 of which are exported to the country and the rest would be constructed in Iran in collaboration with the Chinese company.

According to an order issued by First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri, provision of 2,000 wagons was put out to tender internationally and China got the deal to finance the project, he explained.

MQ/MG