Iran - Andrew Burke [97]
METRO
Tehran’s ambitious underground railway network, the Tehran Metro (www.tehranmetro.com), will eventually service much of the city (see the boxed text). However, at the time of writing only sections of Line 1 (or the red line), Line 2 (navy blue) and all of Line 5 (green) were operating,
Tickets cost IR1000 per journey and slightly more on Line 5. Tickets have magnetic strips and are valid for a single journey, 10 journeys (probably the best for travellers), one day, three days or seven days; longer stored-value cards are also available. Trains start at about 6am and stop around 10pm or 10.30pm, running most frequently at peak hours. Station announcements are in Farsi only, so keep an eye on the English maps inside the trains.
The Metro website has extensive information about bus links to its various stations around town.
Line 1 (Red)
For now, the red line is by far the most useful for travellers. It runs from Haram-e Motahar (Imam Khomeini’s tomb) in the south to Mirdamad in the north, via the main junction of Imam Khomeini Sq. More importantly, the Metro PR people assured us the northern extension to Tajrish Sq would be completed in 2009, so getting up to the northern palaces and Darband will be much, much easier, cheaper and faster.
Heading south, Line 1 stops at Terminal-e Jonub, Rey and Shohada, for the Behesht-e Zahra martyrs cemetery, but not yet Imam Khomeini International Airport.
Line 2 (Dark Blue)
Line 2 runs from Tehran (Sadeghieh) in the west, where it connects with Line 5 to Karaj, to Dardasht in the east. It connects to Line 1 at Imam Khomeini Sq, and is handy to the Amir Kabir St cheap hotels (Mellat Metro station). The eastern extension should be completed by the time you read this, meaning it will run all the way to Terminal-e Gharme (the western bus terminal), providing a fast link to Imam Khomeini Sq and western Tehran, where Azadi station is within walking distance of Azadi Sq.
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TEHRAN METRO: A CITY’S SAVIOUR
It’s no overstatement to say the Tehran Metro is the only hope of salvation for a city literally choking to death on chronic pollution and endless traffic jams.
Tehran’s Metro was first proposed in 1974 and French companies had begun work when the revolutionary government cancelled the contracts in 1981, with just 2km of tunnel completed. It wasn’t until 1999 that the first line (Line 5) was eventually opened. By then everyone agreed Tehran’s congestion problems had become critical and, in some ways, even life-threatening. With four-hour commutes for trips of less than 20km not uncommon, traffic had begun to affect all aspects of Tehran life. By the early 2000s almost US$600 million a year was being spent on new tunnels and stations.
In 2000 the first sections of Line 2 were opened, followed by sections of Line 1 in 2001 and 2002. Tehranis flocked to the Metro and a shortage of carriages meant that during peak hours just getting on was a test of strength (it’s only marginally better today). Inside the carriages became a frotteur’s paradise. But while women are free to ride in any carriage, the front carriage of every train is women only, allowing them to avoid groping men.
Despite the money and collective willpower of 15 million desperate Tehranis, progress has been slow. By 2008 Lines 1 and 2 had still not been completed, and work on Lines 3 and 4 had only just begun. The grand plan calls for more than 10 lines to eventually criss-cross the city.
When we dropped in for tea the urbane Metro guys explained that the full network would probably not be completed for another 20 years. But even at this relatively early stage, the benefits of the Metro are plain to see. Already more than 1 million people are using the Metro every day, saving countless millions on fuel, productivity and health costs, not to mention the reduced pollution and stress born of not being stuck in Tehran traffic. The Metro is expected to account for half of all journeys in metropolitan Tehran