Iraq intends to sign an agreement with France's transport giant Alstom and Hyundai of South Korea for the construction of the much-delayed Baghdad elevated metro before the end of 2020, according to local officials.

The project involves building a 22-km rail network and 14 train substations, with a capacity of at least 30,000 passengers per hour, Baghdad's governor Mohammed Al-Ata told the Iraqi Aliqtisad News network.

"The project has been included in the budget and will be launched once an agreement with Alstom and Hyundai is signed before the end of this year," he said.

Planning Ministry Undersecretary Maher Al-Dulaimi said the project has been delayed for years because of financial and technical reasons.

Officials said in early 2020 that Phase 1 of the project will cost around 3 trillion Iraqi dinars ($2.5 billion) and that Iraq would fund 15% of it. The rest will be financed through an oil-for-project fund created by Iraq and China in 2019, they said.

In 2013, Alstom signed a 40-million-dollar agreement with Iraq for phase 1 of the metro project , which is designed to ease traffic congestion in the capital.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

#Iraq #Baghdadmetro #Construction #Transport

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