MEED reported that work on Kuwait City"s USD 7 billion metro project is being postponed for at least 18 months as the government undertakes a wide ranging study of the country"s land based transport requirements.
Sources in Kuwait said that the project, which has been planned independently of the government, must now be folded into the national transport strategy.
As per report, a consortium led by the UK"s Atkins, US" Parsons Brinckerhoff and local firm Gulf Consult, has been chosen by Kuwait municipality to undertake the country wide transport master plan. The formal signing of the 15 month contract is due to take place in February 2009, with the group submitting its findings in the summer of 2009. As a result, no progress on the metro can be made until then at the earliest.
The metro has been developed by the Kuwait Overland Transport Union. A feasibility study of the project was completed in May 2008 by Spanish transport consultant INESCO and local project management firm Kuwait United Development.
Kuwait Overland originally said the plan would be presented to the government for approval before the end of 2008, along with its proposal for a USD 7 billion national rail project to form Kuwait"s section of the proposed GCC railway.
However, one source close to the metro project said that it will now have to wait until the master plan is completed to see if it recommends building either a light rail or a metro scheme. He said that "The metro network is not a government initiative. It has some supporters in government, but while Kuwait Overland has been planning the project, Kuwait Municipality has been pre paring invitation documents for the public transport master plan.”