Iraq fund chief calls for halt to Baghdad Metro project

• Fund identifies 34 areas to review
• ‘Premature project needs relaunch’
• Appeals to new government

Iraq’s multi-billion-dollar Baghdad Metro project looks set for further delays after a principal financier said the contract was tendered prematurely and should be relaunched.

The Iraq Development Fund (IDF) has identified 34 areas that need to be reviewed before the metro can be launched, its executive director Mohammed Al-Najjar said.

He told the state-owned daily Al-Sabah that the points were “essential and fundamental” before the project moves to the implementation phase.

“The project was launched prematurely before the necessary studies were completed, and a roadmap needs to be re-established,” he said.

“These points included population studies, transportation routes and other elements that were not yet ready… I hope that the new government will adopt the Fund’s report and re-launch the project, which I believe cannot be started until a year or 18 months after these points are addressed.”

Iraq said last year it would retender the Baghdad Metro project after an initial award in 2024. Nasser Al-Assadi, an adviser to the prime minister, said the long-delayed scheme would be relaunched under a new technical and financial framework.

It was announced in mid-2024 that the project had been awarded to a European-Turkish consortium comprising France’s Systra, SNCF and Alstom, Spain’s Talgo and SENER and Turkish contractors, backed by Germany’s Deutsche Bank. Malaysia’s HSS Engineers Berhad (HEB) and its UAE affiliate consultancy HSS would oversee the consortium’s work.

Further reading:

• World Bank approves funding for Iraqi railways
• Iraq to retender Baghdad Metro after initial award
• Iraq to launch Baghdad metro project later this year
  

Officials have said the metro will be built in several stages because it comprises more than 60 stations and covers 150km. Some officials have estimated its cost at more than $17 billion.

Iraq’s parliament is pushing for a mini-budget for 2026 after a cabinet change and a halt to most of the country’s oil exports triggered by the US-Israeli war with Iran, leaving the government unable to produce a full annual spending plan.

Al-Najjar’s comments followed an order by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi to cancel a major railway and airport project as part of a government anti-corruption campaign.

The $17 billion rail project, part of the Development Road to Turkey, was abolished because of its high costs, officials said.