30% of Riyadh Metro work done

RIYADH: Work on the multibillion riyal Riyadh Metro is 30 percent complete and on schedule, according to the region’s governor Prince Faisal bin Bandar.
Prince Faisal, who is also chairman of the Riyadh Development Authority and president of the supervisory commission overseeing the King Abdulaziz Public Transport Project, made the announcement recently at the tenth meeting of the commission.
Among those present were Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Abdul Lateef Al-Asheikh, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Minister of Transport Abdullah Al-Muqbil, a local newspaper reported.
Prince Faisal said the project, which has the support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, would soon see contractors appointed for a wide range of tasks, including operation of trains, management of stations, passenger services, maintenance of systems and supervising various facilities.
Prince Faisal thanked citizens and expatriates for dealing with the disruptions on the city’s roads because of the construction. He said the project would eventually help everyone to move easily across the city.
The meeting also discussed the project’s workflow, which included construction in more than 184 locations along the tracks and the bus networks planned for the city.
There was also a discussion on linking the internal transport system at King Saud University with the public transport network in Riyadh. The social and economic benefit strategy of the project was also reviewed.
Meanwhile, the King Abdulaziz Public Transport Project announced on its Twitter account that it had signed an agreement with Ibrahim Al-Jaffali Car Company and Mercedes Benz to set up plants that would manufacture the buses for the project in Sudair Industrial City.