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View Full Version : Baghdad gets a subway


jonjj
Nov 18, 2008, 3:09 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_baghdad_subway

How is it that Baghdad can afford a subway and our country is claiming no money? Could it be we are spending our money in the wrong country?????

tdawg
Nov 18, 2008, 4:27 PM
geez, that sounds awfully risky to be building now. it's a leap of faith that violence will subside there soon.

Tom In Chicago
Nov 18, 2008, 7:51 PM
First of all this is in the wrong sub-forum. . . secondly any further discussion that is NOT related directly to the "subway in Baghdad" will result in a 3 day suspension. . .

JDRCRASH
Nov 18, 2008, 8:01 PM
Lay off on the political controversy people; this is a very positive step forward, nonetheless.

Rilestone75
Nov 18, 2008, 8:05 PM
Lay off on the political controversy people; this is a very positive step forward, nonetheless.

I agree that this is a step forward. I'm curious though, given the current and forseeable future of safety and security in Baghdad, what types of design improvements do you think we will see from a safety/security standpoint?

alexjon
Nov 18, 2008, 9:15 PM
Maps?

brickell
Nov 18, 2008, 9:29 PM
Looking for a map it appears as this has been planned for a few years already.

http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/01/27/42583.html

This page has a map of a section of what was previously planned.

http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/iraq/metros.html

M II A II R II K
Nov 19, 2008, 2:28 AM
I think there were old plans for a Baghdad Metro at one point, but I think this city for sure needs one with a population it's size.

ardecila
Nov 19, 2008, 4:13 AM
Yea... Baghdad has about as many people as Chicago or Paris. Tehran has a metro system with 3 lines that are very well-used.

Also, construction costs in the Middle East are 1/10 what they are here, or even less. Union labor and building codes are unheard of, and so things like subways can be built very cheaply. $3 billion is no chump change, but it's buying a hell of a lot of subway miles (24) and a whopping 40 stations. The same money here would perhaps pay for 4 or 5 miles of subway, not even including stations.

JDRCRASH
Nov 19, 2008, 5:29 PM
Baghdad is larger than Chicago, at 6 Million.

ardecila
Nov 19, 2008, 8:15 PM
I was referring to Metro population, which is around 9,000,000 in each city. Chicago is a bit larger at 9.7 million. Of course, the Baghdad metro is WAY more centralized and far more dense than Chicago, and a couple of subway lines in Baghdad could easily pay for themselves through fares, even with the widespread poverty in the city.

SHiRO
Nov 19, 2008, 9:19 PM
Not that it's possible to have an accurate estimate of the Bagdad population, but most sources say 5 to 7 million, not nearly 10 million like Chicago or over 12 million like Paris. Seems to me that Paris is twice the size of Baghdad.
But sure a city of 6 million could use a subway, not sure now is the time to build it though.

JDRCRASH
Nov 20, 2008, 8:31 PM
Not that it's possible to have an accurate estimate of the Bagdad population, but most sources say 5 to 7 million, not nearly 10 million like Chicago or over 12 million like Paris. Seems to me that Paris is twice the size of Baghdad.
But sure a city of 6 million could use a subway, not sure now is the time to build it though.

I think your taking the CITY pop. of Baghdad to the METRO pop. of Chicago. The Metro area of Baghdad is around 9 million. Of course these aren't accurate, they're not made that way. But you may notice that even when you include Metro areas of many cities, they aren't much larger than those cities themselves.

Trantor
Nov 20, 2008, 9:03 PM
whats the estimate of time for construction??

the Porto Alegre subway underground line has a timeline of ridiculous 20 years.

I am curious about the Iraqi subway, considering its another 3rd world country.

also, will it be underground (how much % of it)? Because in some countries, the term SUBWAY is not necessarily used by the government regarding the project... in Brazil we say METRO... and metro not necessarily is underground... and sometimes, our surface metros are translated as "subway" to english.

canucklehead2
Nov 20, 2008, 10:28 PM
Hopefully this will be an important step towards rebuilding a city that has been neglected for one reason or another over the past few decades...

SHiRO
Nov 20, 2008, 10:47 PM
I think your taking the CITY pop. of Baghdad to the METRO pop. of Chicago. The Metro area of Baghdad is around 9 million. Of course these aren't accurate, they're not made that way. But you may notice that even when you include Metro areas of many cities, they aren't much larger than those cities themselves.
No I am talking metro population (incl. Abu Graib, Mahmudiyah).
How can metro Baghdad be 9 million if Baghdad Province is between 6 and 7 million? Metro Baghdad certainly does not extent beyond the provincial border which is 70/80 miles from the city (and the city is very compact).

JDRCRASH
Nov 21, 2008, 2:42 AM
Well, I dunno; but according to wikipedia(and some inane wiki user named "Loodog"), Chicago Metro is 9,785,747....and Baghdad Metro is approximately(???) 9,000,000. So yeah..:)

10023
Nov 21, 2008, 3:01 AM
Nobody has any clue how many people live in Baghdad but it's almost certainly less than before the war.

Zerton
Dec 2, 2008, 10:48 AM
Are subways, aka cramped tunnels filled with people, a safe option for Baghdad? Bombings seem to happen weekly.

JDRCRASH
Dec 2, 2008, 7:42 PM
Nobody has any clue how many people live in Baghdad but it's almost certainly less than before the war.

Yes; if i'm correct, over a million people have fled the country since the war began. But that may change if security continues to improve.

Not to mention the other million people that have died related to gunshots, bombs, aerial attacks, etc.

Tom In Chicago
Dec 2, 2008, 9:26 PM
Let's keep this on topic. . . if you want to discuss the "security situation in Iraq" or "how many people live in Chicago vs. Baghdad" take it offline. . . thanks in advance :)

CGII
Dec 2, 2008, 10:13 PM
Let's keep this on topic. . . if you want to discuss the "security situation in Iraq" or "how many people live in Chicago vs. Baghdad" take it offline. . . thanks in advance :)

You don't think the security of such a construction is relevant to the discussion? What else are we going to talk about? Density trends in Baghdad? Given nobody here even knows how many people live in the city I highly doubt we'll get any of this highly intellectual, knowledged conversation you're trying to elicit.

Tom In Chicago
Dec 3, 2008, 5:07 PM
You don't think the security of such a construction is relevant to the discussion? What else are we going to talk about? Density trends in Baghdad? Given nobody here even knows how many people live in the city I highly doubt we'll get any of this highly intellectual, knowledged conversation you're trying to elicit.

No. . . it's quite simple. . . either you discuss the topic at hand or you keep your mouth shut and the thread dies on its own. . . uninformed off-topic and inflamitory remarks will not be tolerated. . .

I've said this before and am confident people can discuss the topics at hand in a civilized manner. . . if not the thread will be shut down. . .

. . .

LSyd
Dec 5, 2008, 6:21 PM
Yes; if i'm correct, over a million people have fled the country since the war began. But that may change if security continues to improve.

Not to mention the other million people that have died related to gunshots, bombs, aerial attacks, etc.

despite general population trends, urban migration the past 5 years has been high; gotta find a job somehow. hence, that's why there's not an accurate number for a lot of cities. along with the migration is a lot of construction and reconstruction; i've seen some interesting things. i even saw what looked a lot like a cheap U.S. subdivision outside one small city, in an area that looked like a flood plain, and couldn't help but think, "great, we've brought bad sprawl here." :haha:

it's good to see this in the works.

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