Mongolia will start building a metro line in its capital Ulaanbaatar next year, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

A senior Mongolian official said the aim was to reduce congestion in the city.

Borkhuu Delgersaikhan, a cabinet member with special responsibility for improving traffic flow in the capital, said: “For the first time, the government made a decision to build a metro line in the capital. The construction of the 22km line from the east to the west is set to begin in May next year and is expected to be completed in 2027.”

The project has been on the drawing board since 2012, when it was approved by the Mongolian government.

The project was to be financed by loans from Japan among others, and Japan International Cooperation Agency conducted a study in 2013 on how the project could be implemented.

In the event, the project was put on ice in 2015. In 2018, planning was resumed, at which time the cost was expected to be around $1.5bn.

For many years, traffic congestion has been a pressing issue in the city, which was originally built to have 500,000 residents, and is now home to around 1.3 million. Currently, buses are the most popular means of public transport in the capital.