Iraq will soon announce the winning bid for its first metro in the capital Baghdad after designs for the train and 64 stations were completed, an aide to Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani was reported on Monday as saying.

The transport ministry has opened the bids for the $2.5 billion project and most of the bidding companies are from China and Europe, transport adviser Nassir Al-Assadi told the official Iraqi news agency INA.

“Some large and serious Chinese and European companies have submitted bids for this project…we have set the location of the 64 stations and the path of the train in the capital and are awaiting final word from the project consultant,” Assadi said.

“We expect the consultant to give us a final opinion by the end of this month, after which we will announce the winning bid.”

Assadi said several global firms and consortia are also bidding for another project involving the construction of rail line linking the central Najaf and Karbala cities.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Bhaskar Raj)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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