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Bridging the divide
TRANSPORT
to take the heavy freight trains Jordan wants
to use, and will need to be replaced.
According to Herve de Villechabrolle,
vice-president of French bank BNP Paribas,
which is advising Jordan’s Transport
Ministry, Syria is likely to finance and build
a line between the border and Damascus.
“The Syrians are ready to start building the
day that Jordan announces it is ready to
start building,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s rail building programme
does include a link to the Jordanian border,
as part of its North-South rail line, which will
connect mines in the north of the kingdom
with industrial facilities at Ras al-Zour on
the Gulf coast. The line could also connect
to the planned GCC Railway, which will run
along the Gulf coast from Kuwait to Oman.
The GCC Secretariat is expected to decide
on the route next year, including whether
to include a line through Bahrain and to
extend the network as far as Oman’s border
with Yemen. Saudi Arabia is also pressing
ahead with the Land bridge, which will link
its east and west coasts via Riyadh, and the
Mecca-Medina railway, which will provide a
high-speed passenger service between the
two cities.
Elsewhere in the region, city metro
networks are also proceeding, if often at a
slow pace. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of
Transport has been weighing up bids for a
consultancy contract for its two-line metro,
although it is not clear when any award will
be made. Neighbouring Dubai opened the
first stations on the Red Line of its metro
network in September 2009, but work on
Dubai Metro
further stations and lines is running late and
over-budget. The Algerian government has
also delayed the Algiers Metro, which was
due to open in October last year, until the
spring of 2010.
There have been some delays at
the region’s ports, as operators wait for
container volumes to pick up. Among those
affected is Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, where
the local DP Ports World has put its planned
$2.3bn
construction of two new
terminals at Tanger Med port in
Morocco
third terminal on hold.
The development of New Doha Port in
Qatar is also proceeding slowly, with Doha
only planning to award the dredging and
breakwater work in 2010. Bubiyan Port in
Kuwait is in a similar position, with the first
contract for dredging and other marine
works yet to be awarded. One of the largest
port expansions in North Africa, the $2.3bn
construction of two new terminals at Tanger
Med port in Morocco, is also on hold.
But some developments are making
more progress. The first phase of the $2.1bn
Khalifa Port, off the coast of Abu Dhabi
emirate at Taweelah, will open in 2010,
with container capacity for 2 million 20-foot
equivalent units (TEUs) and 6 million tonnes
of general cargo. Four subsequent phases
will result in capacity rising to 22 million
TEUs and 35 million tonnes by 2028.
According to industry trade body the
International Air Transport Association,
Middle East airlines enjoyed 18 per cent
growth in passenger traffic in September
this year, compared with the same month
in 2008, and 15 per cent growth in capacity.
Such healthy growth rates have prompted
the region’s airlines to increase the number
of routes they fly and encouraged airport
authorities to continue expanding capacity.
In Qatar, the airport authorities invited
contractors to bid for the $11bn New
Doha International airport project in June.
Unless the Middle East and North African
economies recover more strongly than
expected in the year ahead, there should
be more than enough spare capacity in
international trade links with other regions.
Tanger Med Port, Morocco
May 2010 Link 25