General Company for Iraqi Railways has signed an agreement with Italy’s BTP Infrastrutture for the preparation of a feasibility study and design of the rail portion of the multibillion-dollar Development Road project.

According to local reports citing a Transport Ministry statement, BTP Infrastrutture will prepare the technical and economic feasibility study and design of the first phase of the rail part of the project, which also includes a parallel motorway.

MEED understands part of the project will be funded from Iraq’s 2024 budget.

The overall Development Road project includes a 1,200-kilometre railway and a highway linking Iraq’s Faw port to Europe via Turkiye. It is expected to cost about $17bn.

In September, Iraq said it had completed the design work on the project. It was said at the time that the ministerial council was scheduled to meet to discuss the project’s next steps. The government was expected to form an authority to manage the road.

In August, Turkiye announced it would hold a meeting with officials from Iraq, Qatar and the UAE to discuss the project, following the signing in April of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a framework for implementing it.

In May, it was announced that Iraq’s Ministry of Transport had appointed US-based management consulting firm Oliver Wyman to provide consultancy services for the project.

Development road project

The Development Road project forms part of Iraq’s attempts to improve its geopolitical status as a new trade corridor and generate fresh sources of financial income, reducing the country’s reliance on hydrocarbons.

It involves the development of a 1,200km road and a dual rail line for passenger and cargo trains.

According to the plan, the road project will begin at the Faw port, travel across 10 governorates, and end at Faysh Khabur on the border between Iraq and Turkiye, before connecting to Turkish railway and highway networks.

By 2028, the freight train’s transport capacity is expected to reach 3.5 million containers and 22 million tonnes of bulk cargo annually, according to an official statement by Younis Khaled, director general of the General Company for Iraqi Railways.

This is expected to increase to 7.5 million containers and 33 million tonnes of cargo by 2038 and to about 40 million tonnes of cargo by 2050.

The initial capacity of the high-speed train is expected to be 13.8 million passengers a year.