JEDDAH – Emir of Makkah region Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, who is the Chairman of the Ministerial Committee Supervising public transport in the region, will witness here on Sunday the signing of a contract to provide consultative services for the management of the public transport project in Makkah. The Makkah Public Transport Project was approved by the King in August 2012. It is a comprehensive public transport design and build project that includes metro, bus rapid transit, express bus, feeder bus, all the associated infrastructure and Intelligent Transport Systems. The project will be implemented in three phases over 10 years with a budget of SR62 billion. The tender pre-qualification process for Phase 1 is scheduled to start in December 2013. Phase 1 will consist of approximately 40 km of metro lines of which 20% will be underground. It will also includes bus rapid transit, express bus, feeder bus and all the associated infrastructure and Intelligent Transport Systems. The whole of Phase 1 is planned to be completed in four years. Mayor of Makkah Dr. Osama Fadhl Al-Bar said this will be the first contract in the public transport project in Makkah. He said the contract will be with a British company. Dr. Al-Bar said the public transport project in Makkah is divided into two sections – the first is the metro trains for serving pilgrims and Umrah performers. It will be carried out by Makkah Trains and Makkah for Public Transport. — SG/SPA
