NAJAF, Iraq — The Iraqi shrine city of Najaf, whose mediaeval-style alleyways host millions of Shiite pilgrims every year, has signed a deal for a monorail to rival that of ultra-modern Dubai, a provincial official said on Sunday.
The city, which is home to the grand ayatollahs who wield huge influence among Iraq’s Shiite majority community, will be the first in the country to get a rapid transit system, with proposals for a Baghdad metro still very much on the drawing board.
The monorail will ferry pilgrims between Najaf’s most revered shrines, the Mausoleum of Imam Ali in the city centre and the Grand and Al-Sahla Mosques in Kufa, 10 kilometres (six miles) to the west, provincial investment committee member Anwar al-Habubi told AFP.
The system, which is due for completion within three years, will also provide links to the city’s two main bus stations, he added.
In a later phase of the project, the provincial council plans to connect the network to the city’s international airport, opened two years ago to serve the tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims who travel from Iran, Lebanon, south Asia and elsewhere.[Read More]
