Creating the GCC rail network

The GCC has become a centre for light rail development as cities look to reduce strain on both the roads and the environment. Stuart Matthews explores the recent progress of companies looking to create a new generation of rail commuters

The GCC countries have witnessed some of the fastest population growth rates in the world over the last decade. Crucially more than 70% of the Gulf populations live in urban areas, with both Kuwait and Qatar experiencing nearly 100 percent urbanisation, according to UN Habitat. Between 2005 and 2010 Dubai saw annual population growth rates in excess of 4%, while Riyadh was not far behind knocking around 3%.

These surges in growth, spurred by economic development and accompanying opportunities put enormous pressure on transport infrastructure in Gulf cities and some still struggle with their daily commute.

Regional municipalities have long recognised the need to shift people on to public transport if their cities are not to end up in a semi-permanent gridlock. Understanding this has seen bus and taxi fleets boosted, nurtured the growth of private driver enterprises such as Uber and Careem and led to the emergence of significant light rail projects in the densest of urban centres around the Gulf.

Dubai led the way, in part because it had to. Rapid expansion of the city and its population meant the Dubai Metro was a much welcomed addition to the city’s transport options when it first opened back in 2009. Two lines – Red and Green – are operational and accounted for some 531 million passenger trips in 2014, a year which also saw public transport’s share of the city’s passenger traffic rise to 14%, from just 6% in 2006.

While other lines have been on the drawing board since the project was first announced the one likely to see action soonest is the extension of the Red Line designed to accommodate additional traffic to the site of Expo 2020. Known as Route 2020, the extension will add 15km to the line starting at Nakheel Harbour and Tower station and including 4km of underground line. The plan got the seal of approval from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai in April and construction will also include seven new stations, two of which will be underground.

“The construction of the Route 2020 project conforms to the strategic vision of the Dubai Government for achieving sustainable development, and developing a world-class infrastructure and services,” said Mattar Al Tayer, chairperson and executive director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) at the time of the announcement. “The RTA has mapped out an integrated plan for roads and transport projects to serve Expo highlighted by the Route 2020 project.”

The extension will boost Dubai’s total metro lines to 90km and encompass a number of densely populated residential areas. Requests for proposal are expected at the end of July and will likely have to be submitted by September. The demand timeframe for the extension to be up and running, with its deadline fixed to meet the surge in passenger numbers generated by Expo 2020 Dubai, means interested parties are anticipating an award to be announced in January of next year. Names familiar from the construction of the first two lines are likely to be prominent among the bidders.

Qatar

Another city with a fixed deadline to measure its progress by is Doha. The Qatari capital will play host to the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and is a city much in need of the relief a functional light rail system will bring to traffic. This need has seen the country allocate a large portion of its 2014-2015 national budget, more than $20bn for infrastructure-related projects, according to Alpen Capital’s GCC Construction Industry report, released in June. The report notes that nearly $74.6bn worth of transport projects in Qatar are currently in planning or under construction and key among these is the $40m Qatar integrated rail project.

Overseen by Qatar Rail three major projects make up the integrated network: the Doha Metro, the Lusail Light Rail Transit (LRT) network, and the Long Distance Passenger and Freight network, which will be connected to the wider GCC rail network. Doha Metro is a significant portion of this work and is currently one of the world’s largest active metro projects. In phase one three lines – Red, Green and Gold – are being developed, with an ultimate completion date of 2026 for phase two elements.

Doha Metro’s first phase is underway now and has an expected completion date of 2019, putting it in place well before the city plays host to world football. This first phase will see the construction of some 35 stations and more than 100km of track will be laid, mostly underground. The second phase will see around a further 50 stations developed and making the network 150km long. This second phase will be notable for the increase in amount of track either at ground level or elevated, as the project moves out of the city’s densely packed central areas.

The project’s most recent milestone was the breakthrough of one of the nine tunnel boring machines (TBM) working the Red Line route into what will become Msheireb station. The TBM named Al Mayeda, was launched at Al Corniche station in November 2014 and made the breakthrough at Msheireb in June after having dug 2.3km of tunnel. The TBM will now be taken back to the Corniche station again before heading off in the other direction to Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre station.

“During the past year, we have achieved significant developments on the Doha Metro project thanks to the joint efforts of the company and its contractors,” said Hamad Ibrahim Al Bishri, DCEO of Qatar Rail in a statement. “While the excavation phase is making good progress at all stations under the supervision of our skilled team, we are happy to celebrate a new successful breakthrough here at Msheireb.”

Al Mayeda is one of 21 TBMs assigned for the Doha Metro project. Qatar Rail says all of its TBMs are currently operational, and on track to complete the tunnelling by 2017. So far 30km of tunnel has been completed out of a total of 113km. The project has many milestones to come and is likely to continue to produce big numbers along the way.

Riyadh

Despite the size of the Doha Metro project, observers may be more inclined to look to Saudi Arabia to see the future potential of light rail projects in the region.

The Riyadh Metro stole headlines when contracts were announced in 2013, but it is not the only city with rail plans in the pipeline. Saudi municipalities have also pencilled in metro maps for the cities of Dammam, Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah. With five major metro projects under way or on the drawing boards the country is set to draw on global rail expertise for up to the next decade; especially when these projects have the major high-speed links and elements of the GCC rail network added to them.

With a project cost estimated at $23bn Riyadh Metro is certainly the most valuable of the planned projects and may also be one of the earliest to finish. In July the first tunnel excavation for the project got under way when the consortium led by Bechtel began tunnelling for Line 1 of the network. The Bechtel-led consortium, includes Saudi company, Almabani General Contractors, Middle East-based Consolidated Contractors Company, and Germany’s Siemens AG, and is responsible for the $10bn contract for Lines 1 and 2 of the project.

“Sending our team’s first tunnel boring machine on its underground voyage is a significant step for all,” said Amjad Bangash, Bechtel’s director on the project in a statement.

As the TBM makes progress it will reach speeds of up to 100 metres per week as it cuts a hole beneath the city, with an anticipated completion date sometime in mid-2016. In total, seven tunnel boring machines will be deployed by the Bechtel-led team to dig and construct more than 35km of tunnels for its portion of the project.

July also saw movement on the metro destined for Makkah, where the annual surge in population fuelled by the pilgrimage seasons places huge strain on existing transport networks. Spain’s Isolux Corsan is part of a consortium appointed as preferred bidder to build lines B and C of the Makkah Metro, with an overall budget of more than $2.5bn.

While only the two lines awarded to the Isolux Corsan JV – which also includes Turkish company Kolin Insaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret and the Arab Haif company – are to be built during the first phase, Makkah Metro will eventually include four lines and integrate with the existing Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah line, originally built in 2010 to carry pilgrims between the city’s holy sites. Earlier this year the metro’s developer signed a $390m deal with the Saudi Electric Company to connect and supply electricity to the project, which is scheduled to start next year with a tentative completion date of 2019.

With regional projects of this scale likely to be on going for nearly a decade the Gulf has the potential to become a centre for rail expertise. This status can only improve if plans on the region’s drawing boards start to come to fruition and more passenger miles are clocked up on existing networks. Gulf inhabitants have yet to universally embrace public transport, but nothing is more likely to make them do it than modern metro systems and heavy traffic.