A paradigm shift in the transportation system
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah, said that the “Decisive Storm” recorded a new victory for the Saudi political and military policy and a point of positive transformation in all fields of life that the citizens of the Kingdom live under the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz - may God protect him -.Al-Faisal added that the public transport project in Jeddah is one of a system of projects in both Mecca and Taif and stressed that the project will change the map and the transportation system in the Mecca region and these projects will be a turning point in cities to serve residents and visitors according to the best modern international standards, His Highness rejoiced Khalid.
This came during a ceremony marking the start of the public transportation project in Jeddah on Monday morning, which was held in honor of the Jeddah Metro Company signing the third contract for architectural designs with “Foster & Partners UK” worth 300 million riyals, in the presence of the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, in exchange for designing all project stations and facilities, designing locomotives, buses and marine transportation modes inside and outside, and the contract includes the design of the distinctive identity of the project.
Project components
The Jeddah Transportation Project, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in 1434 Hijri, includes a number of components to be implemented according to a specific timetable, namely a light rail network within the city of Jeddah consisting of three main lines: the Orange Line, the Blue Line and the Green Line, in addition to the supporting bus network, the Corniche trolley line, maritime transport and the Holy Haramain train.
Signing planning and design contracts
The implementation of the project goes through several stages of planning and design, then the stages of awarding contracts and implementation, then the stages of experimentation and testing until the stages of operation and maintenance. In this direction, the Secretary of Jeddah Municipality, Dr. Hani bin Mohammed Abu Ras, confirmed the signing of the project management contract with AECOM Arabia to review all engineering and architectural designs, and the contract for preliminary engineering designs was signed with the French company Systra to prepare the engineering designs for all elements of the project. AECOM participated in the preparation of the strategy for the implementation of all elements of the public transport program and the mechanism for offering all its components, including construction contracts and consulting services contracts.
Specialized companies have a strong presence
During the ceremony, an explanation of the master plan of the public transport project in the governorate and the executive timetable for the workflow of all elements of the project, whether executive projects or consulting projects, was presented, and a group of companies specialized in manufacturing and supplying multiple means of transportation participated in the forum, along with a group of design and construction contractors, consultants and related companies from inside and outside the Kingdom.
