Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on the Baghdad Metro project, one of Iraq’s most ambitious transportation initiatives.
The meeting brought together the Mayor of Baghdad, the Head of the Iraq Development Fund, senior advisers, and representatives from diplomatic missions, international companies seeking to join the project consortia, as well as local private sector partners.
Consulting firms Oliver Wyman (U.S.) and Systra (France) delivered detailed presentations outlining the master plan and economic vision for the metro’s routes and development framework.
Prime Minister Al-Sudani emphasized that the Baghdad Metro is a strategic national project with the potential to transform Iraq’s transportation landscape and stimulate economic growth across multiple sectors. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to developing modern urban transport infrastructure, reducing traffic congestion, and expanding ring roads and public transit networks.
Al-Sudani highlighted that new residential developments such as Bismayah, Al-Jawahiri, and Al-Ward—collectively home to hundreds of thousands of new housing units—will be directly integrated into the metro network. This, he said, will make the metro a vital link for Iraq’s urban and economic expansion.
He also noted that while the project has been discussed for many years, his government has revised its routes, hired top international consultants, and reviewed earlier consortium bids that were previously declined due to technical and financial concerns. The current phase, he added, focuses on selecting the most capable and reputable consortium to implement the project, stressing Iraq’s openness to global partnerships and investors.
Once completed, the Baghdad Metro network will cover 148 kilometres across seven lines, featuring 64 modern stations designed to serve as a backbone of urban mobility in the capital.
