Slated to finish by 2023
KUWAIT: Plans to build a railway connecting Kuwait to the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council states may be moving forward. According to Mohammed Al-Hedeba, a board member with the Public Authority for Roads and Transport, the feasibility study for the railway has been completed. The next step, the tendering of a contract for an international consultant to evaluate the technical offers, will take place within two months. Hedeba added that the project’s construction would start in 2018 and finish by 2023, at a total cost of KD 1 billion. He added that the project would be executed as a public-private partnership (PPP).
The long-distance Kuwait national railroad system was originally scheduled for completion in 2018, but like many mega projects in Kuwait, has been stalled for years. Originally projected to cost KD 3 billion, the project is under the authority of the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (formerly the Partnership Technical Bureau). The integrated rail network is planned to have 511 km of double tracks. The railroad system will serve freight and passengers, with speeds of 120 km/hr on regional lines and speeds of 200 km/hr on others.
National security building tendered
The audit and control sector at the Ministry of Electricity and Water submitted a contract to design, build, execute and maintain the planned new National Security Bureau headquarters. The contract has been submitted to Minister Abdul Rahman Al-Mutawa to be signed, said informed sources, noting that the contract’s total cost is KD 12.7 million. The six-floor building is expected to cover an area of 8,000 sq m in Mubarak Al-Abdullah, of which 3,000 sq m would be allocated for parking.
Contractors warned, fined
A contractor for the new Abu Halifa infrastructure project may face a fine after falling 206 days behind schedule, according to sources at the Public Authority for Housing Welfare. Bader Al-Weqayyan, the authority’s manager concerned with infrastructure projects, has also given a final notice to the contractor executing public facilities in district D of Sabah Al-Ahmed City, warning him that the project would be withdrawn, as it is now more than 550 days behind schedule.
By A Saleh
