Bahrain’s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications (MTT) has appointed a team of consultants to support its nearly $2 billion metro extension project. The selected advisors are now helping the authorities shortlist a suitable engineering consultancy to deliver the design.
MTT is looking to extend the current Bahrain Metro network to reach Bahrain Sports City – laying four new lines across 109 kilometres and boosting current capacity by a staggering 43,000 extra passengers per hour. Pegged between $1 and $2 billion, the project is touted as a route to better and more sustainable urban mobility – a key objective in the national Economic Vision 2030 modernisation strategy.
Several consulting firms are involved – led by Big Four accounting and advisory firm KPMG, which has been appointed financial advisor to the project. French multinational infrastructure group Egis is managing the technical side of things, while DLA Piper is the project’s legal advisor.
MTT’s project team (supported by the consultants) is charged with supervising the entire project lifecycle – from bidding through implementation – and kicked things off last month by inviting engineering and construction consultancies to bid for the design phase.
More than eleven bids came in, and so far the team has narrowed it down to a shortlist of eight consultancies: Aecom; Gulf Markets International; Khatib & Alami; Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering; Sener Ingenieria y Sistemas; Dar Al Handasah; Intecsainarsa; and Egis itself.
The selected engineering specialist will prepare the preliminary design for the project, which is set to unfold over multiple phases. The first will focus on two lines – red and blue – along just over 28 kilometres, 20 stations and two interchanges. Bahrain International Airport, Seef District, the Diplomatic Area and Juffair are all areas that will benefit from better access after this phase.
Details of other phases are yet to emerge, although the completed project is expected to significantly reduce traffic congestion throughout the Kingdom.
Source: Consultancy ME
