By Ben Roberts www.constructionweekonline.com
A French transport group has signed an agreement with the Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority to develop integrated transport network in the country.
The deal between RATP Group and the authority will see the enhancement of bus, tram and metro services over the next few years. A signing ceremony between RATP chairman and CEO Pierre Mongin and HE Mattar Al-Tayer was held yesterday.
RATP Group will support growth through its subsidiary Ratp Dev, which already operates in a dozen countries on four continents. Its highlights last year include the inauguration of the Gautrain in South Africa, the fastest train in Africa operated and maintained by the company. The company has experience with automatic metro technologies, including line 14 of the Greater Paris project, and tramways, including 100 km around the French capital by the end of 2012.
The RATP Group delegation also met representatives of the Abu Dhabi transport authorities who are finalising their Master Plan for Transport. The delegation was also in Doha when the FIFA 2022 World Cup tournament was awarded to Qatar.
The agreement continues the drive to improve transport in the country, which include the award of two consultancy contracts by Union Railway for the proposed cross-country to two US companies at the end of November.
Saudi Arabia is also looking to kick-start new projects this year, including further work on the metro system in Riyadh and the start of work on the same system in Jeddah. This year will also see further work on the Haramain High Speed Rail project that will link the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah.
In December Saudi newspaper Arab News reported that the kingdom’s transport minister, Jabara Al Seraisry, said that work on a 750-km road between the Saudi Arabia and Oman was on track to meet its 2012 deadline and that 592km had been finished.
