Iraq’s first elevated metro project includes the construction of 64 train stations and will have the capacity to transport nearly five million passengers a day, an official has said.

The project will cover more than 85 percent of the capital Baghdad and will run at least 148 km, covering all residential areas and key facilities, including Baghdad International Airport, said Nasser Al-Assadi, a transport adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani.

Quoted by the official gazette on Tuesday, Assadi said the train would be automated and that its transport capacity is one of the world’s highest relative to the population.

Officials said in 2023 the project could cost around $2.5 billion and would be executed by France’s Alstom and Hyundai of South Korea.

Read more: Iraq approves $697mln for Baghdad Metro project

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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