JEDDAH — The third basic contract for the Jeddah public transport metro system was signed on Monday in the presence of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah region and adviser to the King. The contract worth SR300 million was signed by officials of Jeddah Metro Company and the British architectural design giant Foster and Partners. The first two contracts were awarded last year. Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras said the contract for architectural designing involves designing of all metro stations, buildings, trains, buses, and means of marine transport of the new $12 billion metro system. The first basic contract for management consultancy was signed with AECOM Arabia Company for an amount of SR105 million. Under the contract, the company will support engineers and other staff of Jeddah Metro Company during all stages of the project, including planning and design and preparing contract documents for inviting bids, in addition to several other tasks and services. The French railway engineering giant Systra was awarded the second basic contract for preparing preliminary engineering designs for the entire components of the project. The contract, worth SR276 million, involves offering consultancy services for primary engineering design work. The French company is modernizing the general plan for public transport network in the Jeddah region after carrying out studies about all the previous plans and studies in this regard, and is preparing the initial design for the metro project. Planned for a 2020 completion date and a 2022 opening, the metro project aims to remove 30% of Jeddah's traffic within the next 20 years. Currently just one or two percent of commuters in the city use public transport. The Council of Ministers approved in 2013 two public transport systems for Makkah and Jeddah at a total cost of SR107 billion and formed the ministerial committee to supervise the projects. The Jeddah public transport system includes a light train network over a distance of 67 km from Makkah Road to Obhur via central Jeddah. The three-line network will have 22 stations. A 24-km line will link King Abdulaziz International Airport to Haramain Railway Station at Sulaimaniya District near the Old Airport area. The line will have 17 stations. Another 17-km line with seven stations will link the Haramain station with Corniche via Palestine Road. The system also includes a network of 816 buses plying over a total length of 750 km. A sea transport network with 10 stations will be built along the Corniche with the aim of boosting tourism and entertainment.
