A US$40m agreement for Alstom to undertake detailed design studies for the first phase of an elevated metro was signed by Governor of Baghdad Dr Salah Abdul-Razzaq on February 11. [More…]
Alstom signs Baghdad urban rail contract, RailwayGazette.com, 15 February 2013
Baghdad metro
Baghdad metro planning in 1983
From a correspondent:
Re the Baghdad Metro – I was employed as a subbie in Munich in the Summer of 1983 – we were working on electrical installation design (lighting, etc.) for the company Joint Venture Dorsch (“Detailed Design Consultants Lot 011”). The drawings produced were for “Saddam City Depot, Running Shed” and carried the header “Baghdad Rapid Transit Authority”. They all seemed quite innocent and ‘above board’ at that time.
French article on Baghdad metro plans
The November 2008 issue of French magazine Le Rail has a two-page article Bagdad aura-t-elle finalement son métro?, looking at the history of plans for a metro in Baghdad.
The map of Ligne 1 du métro appears to show the Central station — Dora comuter train, rather than Line 1 as previously proposed.
Baghdad metro plan is revived
The Guardian of 18 November 2008 reports the revival of plans to build a metro in Baghdad, with money being set aside for a feasibility study.
Baghdad goes underground with $3bn metro plan
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[On 17 November] the mayor of Baghdad surprised everyone by announcing plans for an underground train network that will literally carve a swathe through the city’s sectarian lines.If investors sign up, the world’s most violent capital will soon have a $3bn (£2bn) metro. Sabir al-Issawi, Baghdad’s mayor, said money had been set aside in next year’s budget for a feasibility study.
And if that goes ahead, the Iraqi government has earmarked funding that it claims could build most of the two mooted train lines without private help. Even the country’s eternal optimists were last night calling the plan ambitious, but lauding its audacity.
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One of the new proposed subway lines would run 11 miles from Shia-dominated Sadr City in the east to Adhamiya in north Baghdad. The other would traverse 13 miles and link mixed central Baghdad to the primarily Sunni western suburbs.
Both lines would have 20 stations each
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The project’s engineer Atta Nabil Hussain Auni Atta, of Iraq’s transport ministry, said old 1970s blueprints for the underground line were being redrawn to bring it up to speed with the specifications of modern railways.
Source: Guardian, UK
This map of a proposed two-line metro network was produced in the past
In July 1982 Railway Gazette International reported plans for a metro. Work was to start August 1983, for test running 1986:
| Construction phase | Line | Route | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | Line 1 north to west | Thawra (depot)/Sadr City – Aadhamiya | 32km 36 stations. 60% bored tunnel, rest cut and cover |
| Line 2 south to east | Mansour (depot) (south) – Masbah (east) | ||
| Phase 2 | extensions | 11 km, 10 stations | |
| Phase 3 | Line 3 | In north of city |
Another 18 November 2008 report:
Iraq plans Baghdad metro to ease traffic
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One metro line would run 18 kilometres from the far side of the eastern Shiite slum of Sadr City to the centre of the city and then up north to the mostly Sunni Adhamiyah neighbourhood, covering 20 stations.The second line, extending 21 kilometres, would start in the south and pass through the central commercial district of Karrada before crossing the Tigris river and running out to the mostly Sunni neighbourhoods in west Baghdad.
…
Source: AFP/Yahoo