Notes from day 1 of MEED MENA Rail & Metro Summit

05 October 2015 - Dubai, UAE:

MINISTER TELLS MEED CONFERENCE THAT UAE IS MAKING PROGRESS WITH MASS TRANSPORT

H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works UAE, told the MEED MENA Rail & Metro Summit in Dubai this morning that investment in mass transport is delivering economic and environmental benefits to the UAE.

“The adoption of integrated mass transport including rail, metro, bus and water vehicles has allowed us not only to address traffic congestion issues but also to lower the environmental impact of transportation in general,” Al-Nuaimi said.

Initiatives include the use of bio-diesel and low sulphur diesel fuel for car transport, solar power for paid parking machines, using natural gas in ships and a central control and command centre for running traffic lights.

Al Nuaimi said sustainable transport will remain a key feature of the country’s integrated medium and long-term development targets.

RISING FOSSIL FUEL USE IN TRANSPORT PRESENTS POLICY CHALLENGES FOR THE MIDDLE EAST

Transport is the only sector of the world economy where demand for fossil fuel is set to rise, creating economic and sustainability challenges that will be hard for emerging and developing economies to address, the MEED MENA Rail & Metro Summit was told this morning.

“Transport will continue to use fossil fuel and its use will increase,” World Bank (USA) Lead Economist for Transport and ICT, Dr. Andreas Kopp said. “And despite progress being made (in increasing transport efficiency), developing countries are increasing their motorisation radically.”

Kopp said that there are limited substitution opportunities in fossil fuel used in individual mobility. The challenge for policymakers in the Middle East is intensified by the low transport fuel prices.

“Low transport cost cities will have a larger area and will be less dense,” Kopp said. He said sharp increases in the cost of carbon-based fuels will be needed to contain demand to the extent required by global carbon emission reduction plans.

MEED CONFERENCE TOLD BIDS CALLED FOR LINE 4 OF THE CAIRO METRO

Consultant engineers have been invited to bid for work on the first phase of Cairo Metros Line 4 by 28 October, Eng. Sameh Refaat, Vice chairman of Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels told the MEED MENA Rail & Metro Summit in Dubai this morning.

Refaat said that a consultant is expected to be appointed by the first quarter of 2016. He said design consultants are finalising the tender documents for construction work on line four, which they intend to issue by the end of the year.

NAT also recently launched a signalling tender for phase 4b of line three, which is under construction.

The €264m contract for the construction of Line 3 Phase 4a of the Cairo Metro between the Haroun and El-Nozha stations was awarded in April 2015. The winning consortium comprised French contractors Vinci Construction Grands Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics, and their Egyptian joint partners, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors.

France’s Alstom was awarded two contracts totalling $85m to supply signalling systems and infrastructure work for phase 4a of Line 3.

The Cairo Metro is run by the state-owned NAT and comprises two lines that are fully operational and a third that is under construction.

The 11th MEED MENA Rail & Metro Conference is being held under the patronage of HE Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al-Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works and chairman of the Federal Transport Authority of the UAE. The event is hosted by the Federal Transport Authority - Land & Maritime. The summit is sponsored by EY (Gold Sponsor), Hitachi (Gold Sponsor), Louis Berger (Gold Sponsor), Alstom (Silver Sponsor), Bentley (Silver Sponsor), Comply Serve (Silver Sponsor), Vossloh (Lunch Sponsor), Parsons (Bronze Sponsor), DLA Piper (Bronze Sponsor) and Siemens (Bronze Sponsor), Hill International (Conference Sponsor), AREP (Exhibitor), Soldata (Exhibitor), Lafarge (Exhibitor), Simmons & Simmons (Official Wifi Sponsor).