TEHRAN, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The expansion and revamp of public transportation projects in the Iranian capital Tehran faces funding challenges and raises demands on the government's budget, said Financial Tribune daily on Sunday.
To tackle the problem, the government intends to use the National Development Fund to overcome the funding shortcomings, according to the report.
Last week, Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran's first vice president, and Mohsen Hashemi, chairman of Tehran City Council, discussed the expansion of Tehran's public transportation network which requires 630 new subway cars and 3,000 new buses.
According to Tehran Municipality, 1,000 subway cars are currently operating in the capital's urban subway system, 30 percent of which need to be upgraded. The capital's subway stretches over 220 km.
After the fuel price hike on Nov. 15, commute demand for subway use has increased significantly in Tehran and currently four million people are using the subway daily. Tehran Municipality expects the number to surge by 25 percent after two new subway lines are launched.
In the meantime, the number of buses operating in Tehran hardly reaches 6,000 which is half of the amount required for offering acceptable transportation services, according to the report.
