Lloyd's Register, a global engineering, technical and business services organisation, said it has won a major quality safety assessment contract from the Saudi Arabian authorities for its ambitious Riyadh Metro project. The metro will consist of 85 air-conditioned stations at a mixture of elevated, at-grade, shallow underground and deep underground locations. The six-line 175-km driverless system will connect central districts of Riyadh with outlying residential areas and the King Khalid International Airport. Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA), the operator of the Riyad Metro, named Lloyd's Register as the independent safety assessor for the new rapid transit system. The UK firm said it will deliver the highest quality safety assessment providing ADA – the executive branch of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh – with confidence that the Riyadh Metro system will operate safely. This will involve regular assessments and audits of safety plans, processes, activities and documentation at every stage of the system's construction in Riyadh, from detailed designs through to the start of operations in 2018, said a top official. "There is a responsibility on all parties to ensure that Riyadh's first ever metro system is completed on time and to the highest possible safety standards," remarked Mike Elliott, Middle East rail business manager for Lloyd's Register. "Though the essence of our role is to retain an objective, independent stance, we are very much part of the project delivery team and will use our experience of systems in Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and elsewhere to ensure that best practice is brought across and that potential issues and delays are identified and resolved without disruption to the overall project schedule," he stated. The award of this contract underlines Lloyd's Register's position as the leading safety assessor of rail systems in the Middle East region, added Elliott. Riyadh's expanding economy has seen rapid urban growth, with a population set to increase from 5.7 million people today to 8.3 million by 2030, hence making the need to have a public transport system paramount. The new system will comprise a metro and bus network. Built at a total cost of $30 billion, it is the largest public transport project in development worldwide. Elliott said Lloyd's Register had a proven record of providing independent safety assessments in the Middle East region, with appointments on Etihad Rail, the Qatar Rail Development Program and the Dubai Metro, as well as similar assessment services on Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro in Makkah and the Personal Rapid Transport system at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.-TradeArabia News Service
