Asheikh Al-Riyadh newspaper THE Council of Ministers, in its weekly meeting last Monday, decided to implement a massive public transport system for major cities in the Kingdom, including Riyadh. All phases of the transport system in the capital – including buses and trains – will be completed in four years. The Cabinet approved the system for Riyadh in accordance with a report prepared by Arriyadh Development Authority. In spite of this great news, citizens have to realize that the task of introducing a train service in Riyadh is going to be very challenging. I think that it is going to be immensely difficult to implement the project in four years. This is due the nature of existing roads, streets, tunnels and flyovers. For starters there is an obvious lack of space along many streets to build railroads. Another important problem is that there are no vacant areas to build railway stations. Both sides of most roads and streets in the capital city are lined with private properties. Moreover, to make the train system feasible, the new stations would have to be built in prime locations. To free up the land required, thousands of properties would need to be demolished and the displaced families would require healthy compensation. In addition to this, the construction of the infrastructure would turn most of the major roads into total gridlock and turmoil for prolonged periods of time. Then there is the small matter of utilities which are are housed underground. These include water, electricity, telephone and drainage systems. Halting or changing the course of any of these lines would require unified and coordinated work across all districts simultaneously. Any complication or breakdown would lead to problems and increase the chances of prolonged delays. I don't want to be a pessimist as far as the project is concerned, but I do believe that the traffic problem in Riyadh is not confined to the absence of a train service alone. Rather, it is the traffic law itself that is the real problem. This law gives all foreign workers the right to buy private vehicles without the consent of their sponsors. It also allows foreigners in all trades without any exception to obtain a driving license. Among them, there are some who can never even dream of traveling in such vehicles in their home countries. Moreover, they use these vehicles for commercial purposes by operating them as private taxis and transporting products around the clock within the city and outside. This chaotic, unregulated trade causes traffic bedlam in all of our cities in the Kingdom. The only way we can resolve this is to put an end to the illegal activities of the foreigners. This should also be coupled with upgrading the present transport system including an affordable bus service, and hopefully sometime in the not-too-distant future, state-of-the
