Iran - Tehran Metro 2009

Tehran metro is one of the Middle East’s biggest metros. The initial plans of 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 with 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, a 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 8-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 th