The Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) in Kuwait is pushing ahead with its plans to develop a new metro system for Kuwait City with the higher committee approving the feasibility study recently. Director-General of PTB Adel Al-Roumi said yesterday, that Kuwait’s Metropolitan Rapid Transit System Project (KMRT) is a key aspect of the country’s strategy to address population growth challenges and the current public transport deficit. KMRT is being implemented by the Ministry of Communications under the auspices of PTB as per the PPP Law No.7/2008.
The project will involve the development, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a full metro network that will be developed over five phases, Al-Roumi said Each phase will be subdivided into a number of separate procurements; each of these will be publicly tendered on a fair and transparent basis in accordance with the PPP law, he added.
He further said that the entire project consists of 69 stations, 16 percent of which underground, with total length of 160 km. PTB is currently focusing on delivering phase 1 of the project which will include the construction network of roughly 50 km, with 28 new stations, 30 percent of which will be underground.
The other four phases will be developed and constructed in future stages over the coming years as demand grows, he explained.
The other four phases will be developed and constructed in future stages over the coming years as demand grows, he explained.
The PTB had appointed a transaction advisory team of (Ernst Young), (Ashurst) and (Atkins) to prepare the feasibility study and to prepare for the procurement stage, including metro infrastructure, control systems, rolling stock, depot and operations.
The Higher Committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, recently approved the feasibility study of the project along with the procurement structure and packages.
These packages include a system integrator PPP company, four Infrastructure PPP companies and an operator.
In addition, the PTB has communicated to the Cabinet the recommended financing structure of the project that includes a government subsidy due to the size and strategic importance of the KMRT Project.
He further noted that the PTB will shortly issue expression of interest (EOI) for the procurement of the integrated rolling stock and PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) company.
The selected company will provide rolling stock and Metro systems to the entire network, across all five phases. The EOI will be followed in due course by procurements for civil infrastructure and operations for Phase 1, he pointed out. — KUNA
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