Dr. Jabara Al-Seraisry, Transport Minister, praised the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, and Crown Prince Salman, for heading a meeting held by the Council of Ministers and approving the formation of a new Public Transport Authority. “King Abdullah's approval is evidence to his ceaseless support of major projects aimed at improving the transportation system in the Kingdom. The Public Transport Authority will have financial and administrative independence to organize public transportation both within and between cities,” Al-Seraisry told the press on Wednesday. The authority will be headquartered in Riyadh and will be responsible for funding and supervising transport services. Projects to be adopted, funded, and supervised by this newly founded authority includes a network of public buses and metro systems in the Kingdom's larger cities as well as the Haramain high-speed rail and another high-speed rail between the northern and southern regions of the Kingdom. The goal of the authority is to provide comfortable, reliable, and affordable means of public transportation to all citizens and residents of the Kingdom. Efficient public transportation services go hand in hand with economic and social developments and will also aid in reducing traffic congestion in the Kingdom's major cities.
Al-Seraisry will chair the authority's board of directors, which will also contain members of government bodies and representatives from the private sector who will be appointed by the royal cabinet. The Transport Authority will also be responsible for drawing up route networks, granting licenses and permits to operators, setting fares, and attracting investors. Work is currently underway in Jeddah and Makkah and much progress has been made in the construction of the railways and infrastructure for the Haramain high-speed train project. Al-Seraisry further said that the rail line will be completed on time and as planned, and is scheduled to begin operations by January 2014. The line will facilitate travel between the two holy cities and Jeddah, and will serve Haj and Umrah pilgrims more efficiently as it is expected to carry more than 60 million passengers annually. The Haramain railway will also link Makkah, Jeddah, Rabigh, and Madinah and is currently in its second and final phase. Earlier this year, Saudi government officials signed contracts worth more than $8.2 billion for Phase 2 to purchase 35 trains,13 carriages, traffic signs and railway tracks, which are to be installed by a Saudi consortium at a reported cost of around $8 billion. Five train stations are being built: Two in Jeddah – Sulaimaniyah district and King Abdulaziz International Airport, King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, Makkah and Madinah. The stations, which have been designed by a Foster & Partners and Buro Happold, with local architectural company Dar Al Riyadh, are conceived as gateways to each city, filled with exemplary services. The terminal station in Makkah is characterized by a golden color to signify the embellishment on the Ka'bah. Madinah's station is a vivid green which draws inspiration from the Prophet's Mosque. Jeddah Station features a shade of purple which has a particular resonance with the city and King Abdullah Economic City's station is a futuristic blue and silver, representative of its role as a modern new city. — SG
