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Iranian President Inaugurates Tehran's North-South Metro Line
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday inaugurated a long-awaited subway network in Tehran, which will effectively link the metropolis' overpopulated south to the well-off north.
The "Number 1" line, which will transfer passengers from the crowded Tajrish Square to the downtown Tehran, covers a 20- kilometer track built with Chinese know-how.
Khatami said at the inauguration ceremony that the Tehran metro project helps circulate the over-congested city and offer a healthy living environment to citizens, expressing thanks to Chinese experts and technicians for their efforts in helping Iran to build the subway.
With the inauguration of the metro line, Tehran has a 60- kilometer train network with a total of 30 stations.
Tehran subway director Mohsen Hashemi, son of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has said earlier that Tehran needs metro badly and the current line "is very insufficient."
The "Number 2" east-west line with a 10-kilometer track was inaugurated last year.
The Tehran subway network will hopefully save energy and ease traffic jam in the capital with a population of 12 million.
Some 2 million cars, burning 10 million liters of fuel each day, hit Tehran's streets, while about 4,600 local residents die from pollution-related diseases every year, according to official reports.
People blamed much of the pollution on dilapidated cars that jam the city's highways and streets, most of which are unequipped to use lead-free petrol.
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