GCC rail network moves closer to reality

By Suzanne Fenton, MEED Transport Editor

This year, rail is expected to be the main area of focus in the GCC transport sector. In October 2011, the $898m construction contract for civil and track works for the first phase of the UAE's Etihad Rail project was awarded to a consortium led by Italy's Saipem. Other members of the group include Italy's Tecnimont and the local Dodsal Engineering & Construction.

In 2012, the group will carry out the design, procurement and construction of the railway infrastructure, as well as the testing and commissioning. It will also be responsible for the earth works and track site grading, bridge structures, communication systems and the development of a depot at Mirfa.

In late November last year, Etihad Rail said the preliminary engineering for the second phase of the project was nearing an end and it would soon be inviting expressions of interest for the second construction contract. The deal is expected to be awarded in early 2012, with construction on the second phase beginning later this year.

Rail projects are also moving forward in Saudi Arabia. The final construction contract for phase two of the Haramain high-speed railway was awarded in mid-2011 and construction will progress in 2012.

Last year also saw the full opening of the Mecca metro in time for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. There are also plans to build a Mecca Mass Railway Transit (MMRT) system, potentially on a PPP basis.

In March 2011, Mecca Municipality appointed the UK's consultancy firm Ernst & Young and law firm Ashurst as transaction advisers for the MMRT project. Meanwhile, feasibility studies for a light rail in Jeddah were completed in August so this project should move forward in 2012.

With just 10 years left in which to build the rail network required to transport football fans around Qatar for the 2022 Fifa World Cup, Doha will also be prioritising rail projects in the year ahead. Among the key transport contracts awarded in 2011 was the appointment of the US' Parsons Brinckerhoff in September as the strategic programme manager for the $35bn Qatar Integrated Rail Programme.

The development of rail projects across the GCC is ultimately intended to link the six member states, so that both passengers and freight can be easily and quickly transported around the region and beyond. But the lack of significant progress elsewhere in the bloc is likely to delay the realisation of this vision.

Pan-GCC development stalls due to financing, unrest

After months of delay, Kuwait finally awarded its railway advisory contract to the US' Booz & Company, together with the local NBK Capital, US-based Wilbur Smith and the UK's Allen & Overy.
In July, Muscat delayed the prequalification of companies for two contracts on its national railway project due to political uncertainty, following a series of demonstrations in Oman. The contracts covered the design and project management consultancy.

A few months later, prequalified consultants were invited to submit bids in November for the design. The client on the project was also changed to the Transport Ministry after the Supreme Committee for Town Planning was deemed to be lacking in necessary experience.

Bahrain is the only country not to have made any progress with its part of the GCC railway and this is due to funding difficulties.

Financing troubles have also hit rail investment in Abu Dhabi. Plans for a metro and tram network in the capital are not even close to being realised, with the Department of Transport cutting its announced $68bn budget.

Dubai, on the other hand, which has previously suffered funding problems of its own, has managed to get its schemes back on track. The second line of the Dubai Metro opened in September and the Al-Sufouh tram project is moving ahead once again.

This extract was taken from MEED's Yearbook 2012, to read the full article please visit Meed.com