RIYADH: Chaired by Riyadh Gov. Prince Sattam, the high committee assigned to supervise the implementation of the public transport project in Riyadh has embarked on the preparation of the project.
Last month, the Saudi Cabinet approved plans to develop a new public transport network in the city that will include both a metro (light rail) and a new fleet of buses aimed at reducing traffic congestion in Riyadh.
According to the plans, the metro project will constitute the backbone of the public transport project. The plans proposed six major routes with a length of 181 km.
Route 1 (Blue line) contains Olayya-Batha-Hair axis with a length of 44 km and will have 39 stations.
Route 2 (Green line) will cover King Abdullah Road (22 km and 14 stations) whereas Route 3 (Red line) will cover Madinah–Saad bin Abdulrahman Roads (45 km and 32 stations).
Route 4 (Orange line) plans to cover Airport Road with 32 km and 13 stations, whereas Route 5 (Yellow line) contains King Abdulaziz Road (26 km and 25 stations).
Route 6 (Violet line) covers Abdulrahman bin Auf–Shiekh Hasan Ali Roads (12 km, nine stations).
The bus transport network will cover all areas of Riyadh that will be integrated with the metro project in terms of stations on main lines of the city.
The bus network will comprise four major levels as follows:
A high capacity network with a length of 95 km. Part of the network will be allocated for emergency vehicles such as the Red Crescent, fire fighting and traffic and security organs.
A support ring network with a length of 100 km will connect different districts of the city with medium-capacity buses.
The third will cover a secondary network with a length of 575 km, whereas the fourth part will cover a local network to serve districts by minibuses.
The Arriyadh Development Authority has recently invited international consortia to pre-qualify for the project, scheduled to be finished in four years.
