Real estate prices are down worldwide but the rumblings of a boom in property prices in Jeddah have begun ahead of preparations to expropriate land for the railways projects and the Second Ring Road. The projects will greatly alter the face of the city and land speculators are fast moving in to corner prize properties for the future. Transport Minister Jabara Al-Suraisiry said Tuesday work on the 450-km high-speed Haramain railway to link Jeddah with Makkah and Madinah will start by next summer. The Haramain rail will stretch from Makkah to Jeddah, past Bahra and further down to the east of the Makkah highway. Private properties in the city will also have to make way for the Landbridge Project linking the east and west coasts of the Kingdom. In all, 3,000 properties will be expropriated for the railways, including some lands on commercial streets, said Abdullah Al-Bluwi, vice chairman of the real estate committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). For a 25-km stretch of the Second Ring Road Project, extending from Briman Bridge, about 80 properties will be expropriated, said Atiyah Al-Zahrani, supervisor of Jeddah's Roads Projects Department. “Properties owners have been summoned to start giving compensations,” he said. Minister Al-Suraisiry met with Jeddah Mayor Adel Faqih to discuss the public transport plan jointly prepared by the ministry and the mayoralty. The plan involves three suspension trains, two railway lines and a bus network to serve all districts, to be executed between 2014 and 2024 at an estimated cost of SR3,666 billion. The suspension trains will go north-south and east-west. A railway line from the airport will run parallel to Makkah Road. Al-Suraisiry and Faqih also discussed the Haramain route through unplanned districts in Jeddah and the expected expropriations for the project. The 90-km-long second ring road project from South Corniche to Asfan in the north will cut across the city, intersecting Makkah Road and linking up to the Dhahban intersection. The first stage of execution has started – 15 kilometers from south of King Faisal Road to the east. Also came up for discussion were the additional intersections required for Al-Haramain Road and Jeddah-Makkah Road and a plan to improve the King Fahd Road-Al-Falah Bridge intersection.
