"The designing of a light train project in Jeddah will be completed in five months. Then it will be submitted to the higher authorities for consideration," Al-Seraisry said in Jeddah on 16 Dec. 2012.
"The study of metro trains in Jeddah is part of the ministry’s mass transit system projects in Saudi cities," Al-Seraisry said.
According to an earlier statement made by the Jeddah Municipality, the proposed light rail transit system resembling the Dubai Metro will be 108-km long, running across the city. It will also consist of three major lines, which will be designated in different colors: orange, blue and green.
The planned mass transit system in Jeddah also includes a bus service using 816 buses to link metro stations with all the residential districts in the city. Buses will run 750km in various districts and have 2,950 stops.
A municipal study showed that 96 percent of Jeddah’s inhabitants use cars as their primary mode of transportation and only 4 percent use public transport.
Steps to introduce metro projects in Riyadh and Makkah are also under way. While the six routes of the Riyadh project will be 181 km long, the Makkah metro is projected to be 182 km with six branches. More than SR 62 billion has been allocated for the Makkah mass transport system including metro and bus networks.
