Saudi Gazette report
JEDDAH — Metro Jeddah Company announced that it will finalize the design for the Jeddah Metro Project by October, Al-Hayat reported on Sunday.
Metro Jeddah Company Executive Director Osama Abdou said they will start looking into the implementation of the project by June 2016.
“The company is actually working on a bigger project in which the metro is only a small part of it. We are working on Ubhur Suspended Bridge project which will have eight lanes to be used by 6,000 vehicles an hour,” said Abdou.
He added the entire project will cost around SR45 billion and it will be implemented in cooperation with international corporations.
“The bridge will be the longest in the world, connecting north Ubhur with south Ubhur and passing through Sharm Ubhur. The bridge will be 2,000 meters long and 74 meters wide. Its main pillars and columns are 51 meters high,” said Abdou.
“The metro railway will be in the middle of it and pedestrian walkways will be constructed on either side of the bridge. The bridge is one of the most important public transportation projects for Jeddah city. It will enable people to choose between taking the metro, driving or walking through the bridge,” said Abdou.
He also said the bridge also serves travelers arriving at King Abdulaziz International Airport.
“Travelers will have the option of taking the Harmain train to Makkah or the metro to Jeddah Central Station, the biggest metro station in the Middle East, to downtown Jeddah. The station will have a five-star hotel and commercial, medical and service centers as well,” said Abdou.
He added the project is expected to be complete by 2020.
“We will be testing the safety and security of the project once it’s done. Therefore we might have the project available for the general public and in full operation by 2022. Our expectation is that the public transportation will cover 20 percent of all transportation in the city within 20 years of its operation,” said Abdou.