JEDDAH: A SR21-billion monorail project will soon be established along Jeddah’s 12 main streets as part of a comprehensive transport system to facilitate traffic in the city. Transport Minister Jabara Al-Seraisry yesterday presented a major plan to develop public transport in Jeddah to Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal during a meeting at the governor’s office.
“Prince Khaled heard a detailed presentation from the minister about the project which will be carried out in three phases,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The new public transport system, which includes monorails, buses and trams linking Jeddah’s residential districts, will bring about a revolution in the city’s traffic system.
Al-Seraisry said the project also involves 816 buses, 201 stations, and dozens of tram cars. The annual operation cost of the system is estimated at SR370 million.
During the meeting, Prince Khaled urged officials to undertake the project as quickly as possible. The project will be implemented by the private sector and supervised by the ministry.
The meeting was also attended by Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh, Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar and Abdul Aziz Al-Khodairy, undersecretary at the Makkah governorate.
The plan for developing Jeddah’s public transport system was prepared by Canada’s IBI group, which provides a full range of services related to the movement of people, goods and information within and between transport facilities.
Through the application of technology and information, IBI offers intelligent transportation systems and advanced public transportation solutions to efficiently manage and operate transportation systems.
“The monorails will have a speed of 40 to 60 km per hour,” an informed source at the Transport Ministry said. The ministry is currently focusing on railway projects to improve the Kingdom’s transport system. “We have already signed contracts with leading national and international companies to implement new railway lines,” he said.
He was referring to the signing of a SR6.79 billion contract with Al-Rajhi Consortium to implement the first phase of the Haramain Railway project that will link Makkah and Madinah to Jeddah. Contracts valued at SR2.39 billion have also been signed with Saudi, French and Chinese firms to implement the North-South Railway that connects the mineral-rich Jalamid belt with smelters in Ras Al-Zour near the eastern industrial city of Jubail.
