Kuwait metro back on track

The USD 7 billion metro project in Kuwait is back on track after plans to proceed to the next stage were approved, Motlaq Al-Sanea, the director of Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), said, Kuwait News Agency announced, quoting an interview Al-Rai newspaper.
KAPP has completed the feasibility study for the project, as well as the tender process for public bidding. The plans to build the Kuwait Metro Rail Project have been approved.
According to Al-Sanea, the conditions on project’s financing are set and there are plans to negotiate with foreign banks and investors.
Kuwait intends to revise plans to build its first metro to reduce the high maintenance costs. The new plan could include fewer areas because of high maintenance costs due to the hot weather in the country, the absence of public transport culture, and the fact that the sandy soil of the desert is not suitable for the rail lines. A master plan for the project prepared by the Communication Ministry two years ago showed that public transport system construction cost is around USD 20 billion. It said the project, a joint public-private sector venture, was supposed to be launched in 2017 but was put on hold due to weak oil prices.
In 2015, Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects announced that the construction on the metro network should be launched in 2016, but it was delayed. The KAPP said it was updating the feasibility studies and for the first quarter of 2016 plans were set for procurement tender.
The metro system would have 160 km served by 68 stations and 60 percent of the total lenght will be underground. The network is estimated to be completed in five phases, with the first phase involving the construction of the Red Line. It will be constructed to link the rail freight depot, Kuwait International Airport and Kuwait City center.
Plans for Kuwait’s metro had been first announced in 2006 and the initial feasibility study was handed to the government in 2008, but it was subsequently put on hold