Tehran Metro
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[edit] History
The initial plans or the Tehran Metro, which was to be Iran's first metro system, were laid out before the Iranian revolution in the 1970s. In 1970 the Plan and Budget Organization and the Municipality of Tehran announced an international tender for construction of a metro in Tehran. The French company SOFRETU , affiliated to the state-owned Paris transportation authority RATP, won the tender and in the same year began to conduct preliminary studies on the project. In 1974, final report with a so-called 'street-metro' proposal was tendered. The street-metro system recommended a road network with a loop express way in the central area and 2 highways for new urban areas and a 7-line metro network which were complemented by bus network and taxi services. Geological surveys commenced in 1976. In 1978 construction on the line was started in northern Tehran by the French company, however this development was shortlived with the advent of the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq war in 1979 and 1980 respectively. SOFRETU ceased operations in Iran in December 1980. On March 3, 1982, the Iranian Cabinet ministers formally announced the stop of Tehran Metro operations by the French company.
The Tehran metro began operating in the year 2000 and was Iran's first metro system.
In 1984 the "Tehran Metro Execution Plan" was re-approved by Majles (Iran Parliament) on the basis of legal project of "Amendment of Law of Establishment of Tehran Urban and suburban Railway Company" which had been founded on Farvardin 1363 (April 1984). This was a literal continuation of the exact same project that had been laid out before the revolution. Work proceeded slowly due to the continuing Iran-Iraq war and often ground to a halt.
By the summer of 1985 urban pressure from the rapidly urbanising population, and lack of developed public transport system prompted the work to be resumed in earnest. 'Line 1' (From Blvd. Shahid Ayatollah Haghani to City of Rey) and its extension to Behesht-e-Zahra Cemetery was made a priority. 'Line 2' (From Dardasht in Tehran Pars district to Sadeghiyeh Second Square) and an extending towards the City of Karaj and Mehrshahr district was also made a secondary priority. Studies were also made to establish the previously designed Line 3 and 4. It was decided that an organisation by the name of the Metro Company should be established in order to handle the future development of the system.
Following this phase, the Metro Company was managed by Mohsen Hashemi (son of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) for approximately two decades. During this time hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on the system and the Metro Company was given government concessions for the exploitation of iron ore mines in Bandar Abbas (Hormuzgan Province), exploitation and sale of Moghan iron ore mine in Azarbaijan Province, export of fuel oil from Isfahan oil refinery as well as tar from Isfahan steel mill [1]. The year after Mohsen Hashemi left the management of the Metro Company the first line of the Tehran Metro was launched between Tehran and Karaj.
On March 7, 1999, an overland Tehran-Karaj express electric train started a limited service of 31.4 km between Azadi Square (Tehran) and Malard (Karaj) calling at one intermediate station at Vardavard. The line was constructed by the Chinese company NORINCO. Silent outrage over the amount of resources harnessed by the Metro Company relative to its achievements was rampant and charges of government theft at the highest levels and corruption widespread.
From 2000 onwards construction began on Lines 1 and 2. The wagons on these lines are provided by CNTIC. The railway tracks and points on these lines are provided by the Austrian company VOEST ALPINE
The Metro uses equipment manufactured by a wide range of international companies: Double-deck passenger cars for the Tehran-Karaj commuter line are supplied by CNTIC and assembled by the Pars Wagon factory in Arak.
To date, approximately one billion US dollars have been spent on the Metro project. [2] Once fully operational, the Tehran Metro is expected to transport about 1.5 million passengers through its first and second lines.
[edit] The lines
Line One
- The line is 34,259 meters long of which 14,879 meters go under ground (from Martyr Haqqani highway to Shoush-Khayyam crossing) and 19,830 meters are over ground. The number of stations along this line is 27 of which 15 stations are located underground and 12 over the ground. As of 2005, the total capacity of line one is 640,000 passenger per day, with trains stopping at each station for 60 seconds. The trains of the western half of the line are each made up of 11 compartments and seven wagons, with a total capacity of 1,290 seated and standing passengers. The maximum speed of the trains is 80 km per hour which will be tempered to an average of 37 km per hour due to stoppages at stations along their route.
Line Two
- The line is 20,412 meters long of which 19,022 meters are underground and 1,390 meters over the ground. There are 19 stations along this line one of which is shared by line one.
Line Three
- The line is 41,469 meters long of which 2,499 meters are under the ground and 38,970 meters over the ground. The line has nine stations and one terminal.
Line Four
- The line is 15 kilometers long and has 17 stations and one terminal. Two stations of this line are shared by line two.
Line Five
- The line is 41 km long and has seven stations and one terminal. Entering the area of Karaj with main stations at Bonyad-e Rangam, Malard and Mehrshahr.
[edit] Safety concerns & commuter perceptions
Given the historical epidemic corruption and theft involved in the Metro Company[citation needed] many safety concerns are quietly raised by Tehran citizens. Some believe the Metro to be poorly built and fundamentally unsafe given Tehran's proximity to a fault line and predisposition to earthquakes. More and more residents use the metro due to the improvement in the peak-hour headways, the opening of more stations and overall improvement with new escalators, elevators and air-conditioning in the trains, etc.
[edit] Art in Tehran Metro
Combination of the modern art and traditional Persian art is very eminent in every stations of Tehran Metro.
[edit] Accidents
- A motorcar packed with passengers plunged into Qourkhaneh workshop (the central terminal of the metro in southern Tehran) as a result of the collapse of a wall of the tunnel, resulting in the death of all passengers. [3].
- On 18 July 2006, a twenty meter square area immediately adjacent to the entrance of the Toupkhaneh metro station caved in. There were no casualties, but the station had to undergo numerous repairs.
[edit] Cultural damage
The Iranian Cultural Heritage Organisation has complained that the vibrations caused by the Metro were having a significant and highly adverse effect on the Masudieh Palace in the Baharestan neighbourhood of central Tehran[4]. The Cultural Heritage Organisation has also complained about vibrations near other historic sites such as the Golestan Palace and the National Museum of Iran.
[edit] Metro Systems in other cities of Iran
- Mashhad Metro
- Isfahan Metro
- Shiraz Metro
- Tabriz Metro
- Ahwaz Metro
