Skip to main content

Royal HaskoningDHV scoops public transport project

A joint venture comprising Dutch consultancy and engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV and Saudi Arabian Mshari Al-Shathri engineering consultant has been appointed by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Transport to prepare a feasibility study and preliminary design for a first public transport system for Dammam. The objective of the system is to alleviate congestion in the area, which has seen significant growth in recent years. Increasing use of private cars has led to congestion and at current growth rates,
July 26, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A joint venture comprising Dutch consultancy and engineering company 6132 Royal HaskoningDHV and Saudi Arabian Mshari Al-Shathri engineering consultant has been appointed by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Transport to prepare a feasibility study and preliminary design for a first public transport system for Dammam.

The objective of the system is to alleviate congestion in the area, which has seen significant growth in recent years.  Increasing use of private cars has led to congestion and at current growth rates, experts are forecasting gridlock across the Dammam urban road network within a few years.
 
The project entails a feasibility study and preliminary design for a combination of 50 km of light rail, 110 km of bus rapid transit system and 350 km of feeder buses in Dammam Metropolitan Area, including King Fahd International Airport.  The approach will be multidisciplinary and include public transport planning, infrastructure design, urban integration, operation planning, business case preparation, and procurement strategy.

Undersecretary for Transport Affairs, Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Ohaly said: “In order to improve mobility and to alleviate urban congestion, reduce noise and air pollution we realise that we need to encourage people to use public transport.”

Nils den Hartog, project manager for Royal HaskoningDHV said: “Public transport is currently almost non-existent in this car-dominated city where petrol costs no more than 15 cents per litre. A key challenge of this project will be the successful introduction of such a system.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK Government fast tracks driverless cars
    July 30, 2014
    UK business secretary Vince Cable has announced two new measures today that give the green light for driverless cars to take to UK roads from January 2015. UK cities can now bid for a share of a US$16.9 million competition to host a driverless cars trial. The government is calling on cities to join together with businesses and research organisations to put forward proposals to become a test location. Up to three cities will be selected to host the trials from 2015 and each project is expected to last
  • A better use for the UK’s commuter railways?
    February 4, 2015
    A new report by think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs looks at an alternative to expanding the rail network in the UK. The report, Paving over the tracks: a better use of Britain’s railways?, by Paul Withrington and Richard Wellings outlines how commuters could pay over 40 per cent less for their journeys and more passengers could enjoy the luxury of a seat if the industry was sufficiently liberalised to allow some commuter railways in London to be converted into busways. The success of the bu
  • Moneybarn: 1,800% increase in UK electric car registrations over five year period
    November 2, 2017
    Nearly 10,000 electric cars are now registered in the UK with Japanese and German manufacturers dominating most popular brands in the UK, according to a five-year analysis on the development of the Electric vehicle industry by Moneybarn. These findings have been revealed following the government’s plan to ban the sale of all petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.
  • ITF presents latest results on impacts of shared urban mobility
    September 29, 2016
    Speaking at the World Mobility Leadership Forum in Detroit this week, José Viegas, Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF) will tell world mobility leaders that smart methods for sharing vehicles hold the key to solving a city’s mobility issues, from congestion and air quality to better access to jobs or education. According to ITF, most negative impacts of current urban mobility patterns stem from the extraordinarily inefficient use of the private car. While a car is one of the most