An artist’s impression of the planned Jeddah Metro.

The Jeddah Metro, which is expected to cost SR45 billion, will be ready by 2022, said Osama Ibrahim Abdu, CEO of the metro company.

The new metro project would reduce traffic congestion in the sprawling business city, he said.

“The project aims to cover 30 percent of the city’s traffic,” Abdu said. “At present, public transport represents only two percent of the total traffic volume in the city, which is witnessing a large number of development projects.”

He emphasized the need for adopting policies to encourage use of public transport in order to reduce traffic congestion in the city.

“Building infrastructure, obtaining land and busy traffic movement are some of the challenges facing the project,” the CEO said, while highlighting the project’s positive social and economic impact.

“We will begin implementing the project in 18 months after making designs and acquiring land,” Abdu said. “The metro will have three main lines that will be blue, green and orange in color.”

 
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