France in Talks on Baghdad Elevated Train Project

The Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Hamid Naim Al-Ghazi, met on Wednesday the French Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Eric Chevalier. Dr. Al-Ghazi stressed the Iraqi government's interest in the Baghdad Elevated Train (BET) project, which he said is of vital and strategic importance. Mr. Chevalier also expressed the French government's interest in the project, and said the company [Alstom] was keen to hold meetings with the relevant authorities in Iraq to finalize the details.

In 2020, an Alstom-led Consortium, together with its partner Hyundai Engineering & Construction, signed a Letter of Intent with the Iraqi Ministry of Transport to define a framework for all the appropriate steps to accelerate the implementation of the project. The Baghdad Elevated Train Project is a 20 km elevated metro in Baghdad with 14 stations, and includes the supply of rolling stock, electromechanical systems, tracks, as well as associated civil works. The light rail system would link Al-Khadumia, AlEtafia, Alsarafia bridge Al-Mustansirya, Wazyria and AlShab over 16km, and AlEtafia AlMuthana airport to Al-Alawi over 4km.