Iraq has decided to embark on one of the region’s largest rail projects involving the construction of a 1,170 km rail line stretching from its Southern Faw Port to the Northern border with Turkey, the official Alsabah daily said on Monday.

Preliminary designs for “The Development Road”, costing nearly $17 billion, have been completed while the final designs are under way, the paper said, quoting Maytham Safi, information director at the Transport Ministry.

“The Development Road involves a rail line and a motorway…they will pass through 11 Iraqi governorates towards the border point with Turkey…work on the project will commence in mid-2025,” Safi said.

Safi revealed that the Ministry is working on a number of tenders for both the rail and road projects and that they would be ready in the near future.

Iraq, which controls the world’s fifth largest proven oil deposits, has invited Turkey, Qatar, the UAE and other countries to contribute to The Development Road.

US consultancy firm Oliver Wyman is advising Iraq on options to fund the Development Road project.

In May 2024, Iraqi News Agency reported that General Company for Iraqi Railways (GCIR) has completed 75.61 percent of the railway design and 68.84 percent of the expressway. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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