Skip to main content

Mena states plan $225bn transport projects

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region has a US$225 billion rail, metro, tram and bus rapid transit (BRT) capital investment programme to 2030, according to a report by Meed Projects. There are now 108 separate railway, metro, monorail, tram and BRT projects under bid, under design or under study in fourteen Mena countries. More than 50 of them, with a combined value of almost $140 billion, are in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
October 17, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region has a US$225 billion rail, metro, tram and bus rapid transit (BRT) capital investment programme to 2030, according to a report by Meed Projects.

There are now 108 separate railway, metro, monorail, tram and BRT projects under bid, under design or under study in fourteen Mena countries.  More than 50 of them, with a combined value of almost $140 billion, are in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Saudi Arabia has the greatest potential with projects worth US$50 billion due to be completed by 2025.  Rail, metro, tram and BRT projects in Qatar worth more than US$30 billion are scheduled to be finished by 2020, ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Finals. The third biggest rail market is the UAE, where US$27 billion worth of projects is due for completion by 2030.

These projects will be highlighted at the Meed Mena Rail & Metro Summit which opens at in Abu Dhabi at the end of October, when around fifty experts from government and private businesses in the GCC, the wider Middle East and the world will address the event, with over 300 delegates expected to attend the conference.

Speakers at the conference include Dr Mohammed Montazeri, deputy managing director for planning and logistics at the Tehran Urban and Suburban Railway Company. Iran has more than US$15 billion of major projects in the pipeline and two-thirds of this planned investment will be in the urban rail network of the Iranian capital by 2025.

Related Content

  • Bombardier people mover system for Jeddah
    May 17, 2012
    Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract with Saudi Arabian construction company, Saudi Binladin Group, to design, build, operate and maintain a Bombardier Innovia APM 300 automated people mover system for the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) development project in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The total value of the contract is US$96 million.
  • Public Private Partnerships to gather pace in the US
    April 29, 2015
    Public Private Partnerships are set to play a big role in transportation funding as Andrew Bardin Williams discovers. The old joke goes that the road from New York to Chicago is paved with potholes. For decades, drivers from New York and New Jersey traveling across Pennsylvania to visit the Midwest have lambasted the Commonwealth’s roadways for their lack of smooth pavement.
  • Q&A: Why has Almaviva bought Iteris?
    January 17, 2025
    US-based ITS sector veteran Iteris has been bought for $335m by Italian digital specialist Almaviva. But who exactly is the new owner and what does it want? Adam Hill finds out…
  • First Middle East ITS conference and exhibition
    March 12, 2013
    The first Middle East conference and exhibition on ITS, held in December 2006 in Dubai, was opened by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah Al- Mogbel, the president of ITS Arab and Deputy Minister of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-day conference, the theme of which was 'Shaping the Future with ITS Solutions', focused on traffic safety, congestion, security and demand management. H.E Eng. Abdullah Al-Mogbel said, "ITS Arab will play a vital role in the development of sustainable ITS deployments across t