RIYADH – Saudi Arabia shortlisted four consortia Monday, including ones led by Canada's Bombardier Inc. and French firm Vinci, to build a new metro system in Riyadh to ease congestion on the capital's gridlocked streets. The four groups should present their financial and technical bids for the project within four months, the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh region, who is also the Chairman of ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) and Chairman of the Supervising Committee for the Implementation of Public Transport in Riyadh. The winner of the tender will build an underground network, provide electric trains, construct bridges and subway tunnels and provide all the engineering and design for the project, the news agency said. The 175-kilometer electrical rail link will connect Riyadh's airport with other parts of the city, including the new King Abdullah Financial Center. The pre-qualified consortia were made up of 38 companies from 15 countries. The Council of Ministers approved plans in April to develop a new public transport network in the city within four years that would include both a metro and a new fleet of buses. The result of bidding qualification for Riyadh city's busses, which includes 16 international consortia, will be announced soon, said Prince Sattam. One consortium is led by France's largest-listed construction and concession's firm, Vinci and includes Germany's Siemens, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. A second is led by Canadian firm Bombardier and includes Turkey's Yapi Merkezi, Spain's Obrascon Huarte, Korea's GS Engineering and Construction Corp, and Britain's Serco. A third consortium is led by Spain's FS Engineering and Construction. It includes France's Alstom Transport, Korea's Samsung C&T Corp. The fourth consortium is led by Austria's Strabag and includes Italy's Ansaldo STS, Switzerland's Stadler Rail, India's Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Britain's Hyder Consulting and US firm Worley Parsons. Saudi Arabia has only limited public transport facilities and Riyadh suffers grinding congestion for much of the day and into the late evening. In December, the government unveiled a SR690 billion ($184 billion) budget for 2012, as it seeks to boost infrastructure, education and health. – Agencies
