What the future holds

The Rail Infrastructure MENA event showcased rail projects in progress and in the offing in the region. If all the projects materialise, the region should be well connected in the next few years. Munawar Shariff reports

The entire MENA region seems to be burgeoning with plans for rail infrastructure, which are sparking much curiosity. The Rail Infrastructure MENA 2008 conference held on May 22 and 23 at the Park Hyatt was timely and had industry experts talking about the latest happenings in their respective countries.

Jordan presented a comprehensive plan for the expansion of its rail infrastructure with the development of its Aqaba Port and the King Hussein Bin Talal Economic Zone (Mafraq). Laith Dababneh, Director Multi-Transport Department, Ministry of Transport, Jordan, spoke about the core railway network which would comprise a North – South Railway (NSR) route linking the Syrian Border to Mafraq, Zarqa, Amman, Maan and finally Aqaba. The East – West Railway (EWR) route would link Irbed to Mafraq, Zarqa and the Iraqi border, including the connection to Saudi Arabia. This core network might be supplemented by other rail lines, he says, the operations of which would be quite independent from it, or at best would have a limited impact on railway activity on the core network.

 
Laith Dababneh, Director Multi-Transport
Department, Ministry of Transport, Jordan,
stated that all Arab countries have much to
gain with a regional rail network

The development of the King Hussein Bin Talal Economic Zone (Mafraq) is also significant, as the area is centrally located within Jordan, close to the airport, has an abundant labour force available within a 50 kilometre radius, is connected to the Aqaba Port and is close to the borders of neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia. The zone will be divided into four clusters – Transport and Logistics, Community Services and Utilities, Industrial, and Housing.

Dababneh also spoke about the advantages of enhancing the region’s freight rail capacity. He said, “All Arab countries should be connected by rail. There are no physical links, if things are in place all countries stand to gain. Having least-interrupted freight transport will compare in its simplicity and accessibility to road transport. It will be economical as the oil prices are high, going up to $145 per gallon today. Hence, there’s more to gain if we can conquer problems like interoperability and other regional issues through the introduction of integrated systems. All the Arab countries should have standard specifications.”

Dubai Metro

“When you think Dubai, you think big,” said the voiceover at the end of the slide show showcasing Dubai’s metro, tram, bus and marine transport presentation. Focusing on safety in the Dubai Metro and how Dubai is conforming to international safety standards, Eng. Ali Abdul Qader elaborated on the safety aspect the Road and Transport Authority’s (RTA) plans since the conception stage of the metro service. Some examples of the safety aspects presented on the day were the front–facing camera in the CBTC (Communications Based Train Control) driverless trains, the platform screen doors and the viaducts the trains will ride on.

Paul Anderson, Managing Director,
Serco – Dubai Metro elaborated upon
Serco’s many challenges before
deadline day 09/09/09

Paul Anderson, Managing Director, Serco – Dubai Metro, spoke about the challenges that lie in Serco’s path to make the metro a successful alternative to the current private transport. Dubai’s government is investing heavily into making the metro a transport of choice for a large percentage of its residents, as currently only three per cent of the population use public transport services. And the challenge mainly lies here, as each person’s needs and expectations from the metro vary. Anderson highlighted that Dubai Metro needs to meet customers’ needs, to be on top of the operational challenges which are many considering this is the world’s largest driverless system and it comes with high expectations and demands from both the RTA and the customers. The metro is the first in the region and has a limited number of people who have the required skills of working the metro, as well as the need for a multicultural workforce which will require extensive training. The metro will have 74 kilometres of tracks with 47 stations requiring over 3,000 staff. Besides all of these challenges, Anderson pointed out the deadline looming ahead of September 9, 2009, the day the metro needs to be ready to use.

South Africa’s ambitious Gautrain project is almost going as per schedule, perhaps about two-weeks behind, said Jack Van Der Merwe, CEO, Gautrain Management Agency. The rail link between Johannesburg Port and Hatfield aims to reduce unemployment and increase the economic growth in the country in the long run. The management agency has four points which it thinks will help see the project through: political will and commitment, the fact that it is a viable project from the technical, financial and legal/institutional angle, with funding being provided in portion by the government and by the private sector and widespread community acceptance making further socio-economic changes in the future. The standards set for the metro and the stations are high with a lot of infrastructural plans already underway, including five-star hotels and malls in the vicinity of the stations.

Moving sands

Martin Bay, CEO, Deutsche Bahn makes a
point in his presentation

Saudi Arabia has a couple of projects under construction that propose to change the landscape of the kingdom in the next few years. The kingdom is working on the Saudi Landbridge, the Makkah-Madinah rail link and the North-South Rail link. Focusing on the North-South Rail link, both Martin Bay, CEO, Deutsche Bahn and Shahid S Khan Project Director and Contractor’s Representative, Saudi Bin Ladin Group for the North South Railway Project presented the status of the project work after a year. Twenty four per cent of the total earth work has been completed with half of the sub-grade already in place (40 kilometres is done of the total 80 kilometres). “The site of the rail link is 400 to 500 kilometres from major cities and hence is in the middle of the desert, so there are 1,300 men who are stationed on the site with more than 500 vehicles and machines and a fully equipped workshop to service them. A total of 555 kilometres of tracks have to be laid and this total length has been divided into sub sections and work is going on in all the sections. In order to avoid time being wasted, materials were ordered in advance hence 23,000 tons of sleepers have already arrived as well as the first 240,000 parts of fastening systems have also arrived,” said Khan.

Energy efficient

Studies over the years have proved that the energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide have increased drastically and the damage caused by air pollution has made a significant impact in the atmosphere in Iran. Besides, Tehran and other satellite towns around it have also experienced massive growth leading to congestion and people seeking out other modes of transportation than cars and buses. Iran’s current rail project aims to link all the major towns in Iran, not just around Tehran. Other links are planned for the future. With expansions planned in the entire transportation section, the government will focus on expanding the mass rail transit (MRT), heavy metro, light rail transit (LRT), monorail and bus rapid transit system.

The central point

While Iran in concentrating on expanding the rail network within its borders, Turkey is looking beyond its borders for rail connections. Hulya Cilgi, International Marketing Manager, Turkish Railways, spoke extensively about expanding rail links with all of Turkey’s neighbours as the country lies in a centrally advantageous position, making it the focal accessibility point with Europe and the Middle East. Plans are afoot to have a 10,991 kilometre railway line which will link Hungary, Austria, Germany, Romania with Turkey on the European side and Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq and Syria on the Middle Eastern side.

Projects to link all the cities in Turkey with a speed train network are also underway with a high speed tracks already being laid all around the country. Turkey also has the high profile Cream Project which is being planned by the European Commission, involves 14 countries and will link the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) countries with Turkey. “The EU is providing us with its full support from planning to finance as it wants to increase the quality of the infrastructure and service of freight trains,” said Cilgi. With a budget of Turkey New Lira (TRY) 49.1 million (€25 million), the project aims to shorten transport time between Western Europe, expected to increase growth in the transport of freight in the corridor, utilisation of co-operative business models, creation of a common Quality Management System on the corridors to get the same understanding of logistic transport processes, equal conditions of transport on the whole corridor, similar production quality, utilisation of harmonised IT and Telematic systems, knowledge transfer (Best practice), co-operation for interoperable operation, high quality performance of all companies is the main prerequisite to be competitive against road transport.

Kuwait, too, has a system in place to deal with all the issues of the increasing population, low cost of petrol making the ratio of a half car to a person in the country of three million people, increasing carbon emissions and low quality of public transport among others; and with the population expected to peak at about six million people in the year 2030, the government is ready to invest in a rail transport in the country. Talking about the timeline of the project, Dr. Hussain Al-Sayegh, Consultant, Kuwait Overland Transport Union, said, “The infrastructure is ready, and as it going to be PPP funding (Public Private Partnership), we’ve received six million proposals and sifting through those many documents takes time. We are waiting for the government’s decision as the subsidy is based on the feasibility, regulation and performance specifications. The first package of the first phase will be ready in five years.”

Hussain Al-Sayegh, Consultant, Kuwait
Overland Transport Union, speaks about
Kuwait’s rail plans at the Rail Infrastructure
MENA 2008

As per rumours in the audience, Kuwait’s project proposal has been in the pipeline for the last five years with nothing to show for it and now there is talk about the first phase needing another five years.