Kuwait pushes ahead with $7bn metro service plans

Kuwait is pushing ahead with plans for a new $7bn, 160km station metro service for Kuwait City, and has appointed a senior team of advisors to kickstart the project.

The Kuwait Metropolitan Rapid Transit System Project (KMRT) is designed to address Kuwait’s lack of public transport infrastructure, and is being implemented by the country’s Ministry of Communications under the auspices of the Partnerships Technical Bureau.

The project will involve the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a three line metro network that will be developed over five phases. The first line will connect Kuwait’s southern metropolitan area with the centre and will also run through the main university, a total of 25.8-km. Line 2 will contain 25 stations along 20.9km and connect the main business district with the main residential areas of Salmiya and Hawally. Line 3 will be 18.5km and connect the city to Kuwait International Airport and connect residential areas and Shuwaikh Industrial Zone.

Phase 1 of the project which will include the construction of a network covering 50 km, with 28 new stations, 15 of them underground.

The other four phases will be developed and constructed in future stages over the coming years as demand grows, says Director-General of PTB Adel Al-Roumi.

Each phase will be subdivided into a number of separate procurements; each of these will be publicly tendered on a fair and transparent basis in accordance with PPP law, he added.

The PTB has appointed a transaction advisory team that includes Ernst Young, Ashurst and Atkins to prepare the feasibility study and to prepare for the procurement stage, including metro infrastructure, control systems, rolling stock, depot and operations.

The PTB is to call for expressions of interest for the procurement of the integrated rolling stock for all five phases. This will be followed by a decision over the winning submission for civil infrastructure and operations for Phase 1.