Iraq on Friday confirmed it would award the multi-billion-dollar Baghdad Elevated Metro project to Alstom of France and South Korea’s Hyundai Company. The Transport Ministry said it has started measures to allocate land and clear the path of the planned Metro in the capital. “The Ministry is now awaiting financial allocations from the 2023 budget to launch the project…it is also in the process of signing the contract with Alstom and Hyundai,” the Ministry’s Public Relations chief Maytham Al-Safi told the official Iraqi news agency. Safi did not mention when the contract would be signed apart from saying the 20-km rail project includes infrastructure, high-speed trains and 22 stations in the capital. Officials have said Alstom have carried out a feasibility study for the $2.5 billion project, which aims to ease road congestion in Baghdad.