Transport industry pundits are warning that projections of exponential traffic growth on Muscat’s road network which are likely to be compounded by the government’s recent decision to relocate cargo operations from Port Sultan Qaboos to Sohar, makes a passenger metro an imperative for the capital city.
A passenger metro is currently not envisioned in the initial phases of an ambitious plan to develop a rail based national freight and passenger transport network linking Oman with the rest of the GCC. However, with constantly swelling vehicle numbers likely to add a further strain on the city’s increasingly burdened road network, a metro system will eventually become a necessity, it is pointed out.
Around the world, modern cities are increasingly looking at metros, light rail networks and other mass transit systems as an economical and environmental friendly route to facilitating commuter transport while easing traffic congestion on city roads. Oman’s fellow GCC members too are embracing rail based transport systems to support commuter travel within their major cities.
Consultants appointed by the Omani government to undertake a feasibility study of a National Rail System in the Sultanate also looked at the viability of a rail based passenger network extending into Muscat city.
A concept study undertaken at the time broadly proposed the alignment for a metro based on a combination of underground and elevated elements, extending from Muscat International Airport all the way to Wadi Adai and possibly up to the Commercial Business District. But the proposal did not win approval largely on account of the challenges of building the system in already built up neighborhoods. But according to industry experts, recent developments, most notably the government’s decision to convert Port Sultan Qaboos into a cruise tourism hub and to transfer all cargo activities to the Port of Sohar will completely alter the dynamics governing traffic flows in and out of the city.
Upon the relocation of cargo services to Sohar, experts foresee a greater inflow of traffic into the city and its environs, as trucks and other goods carriers supply a city that primarily sources its requirements from outside of Muscat. This scenario will inevitably contribute to a sharp rise in traffic volumes on the city’s roads, it is pointed out. Another likely contributory factor is demographics. With nearly half of the local population below the age of 18, vehicular traffic is projected to dramatically rise YoY as more and more young Omanis reach driving age, further adding a strain on the city’s road network.
While the Muscat Expressway has greatly helped ease congestion on the arterial Sultan Qaboos carriageway, further new improvements to the road network especially in the developed southern parts of the city are unlikely in light of the severe space constraints. Thus, to all intents, the road system across the southern part of the city, extending from Qurum to Ruwi and Al Wadi al Kabir and beyond, is expected to remain largely the same over the next 10 years although traffic growth will likely be dramatic.
All of these transport concerns can be largely addressed through the establishment of a city wide metro system, it is argued. In fact, Muscat city, it is pointed out, has many of the essential ingredients that would make a metro system eminently feasible. For one, the city’s largely linear alignment, extending from Ruwi to the airport, would allow for the vast majority of its population to be covered by a metro. Link lines, say to Al Wadi al Kabir, and so on would help bring the remainder of the population within the network’s coverage.
As in modern cities that have developed metro systems in essentially built-up areas any metro for Muscat city is likely to comprise a mix of underground and elevated elements. Sultan Qaboos Street, which runs the length of the city, is seen as ideal for an elevated line to be built along its median. In fact, the alignment for a National Rail Network already provides for a passenger line from Al Khoudh to a point near Muscat International Airport. At Al Khoudh, the line links up with the Batinah stretch which starts from Khatmat Malaha on Oman’s border with the United Arab Emirates and concludes at Misfah near Rusayl.
A competitive process for the prequalification of consultants for the key design and project management packages of the rail project stalled in the wake of a major reshuffle of the Council of Ministers that took place in March. The process is likely to be revived once authorities resolve the question of whether to transfer the rail portfolio from the Supreme Committee, which has been overseeing the project from inception, to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Around 10 international firms each have been prequalified to participate in the prestigious Detailed Engineering Design and Project Management Consultancy tenders. Depending upon the outcome 1313762462779608100 of efforts to resolve the issue of who will oversee the rail portfolio, a Request for Proposals is expected to be floated in the coming weeks. Oman’s rail system will comprise a double track with trains running on electrical power. Provision will be made for the introduction of high-speed passenger trains operating initially at 200 kilometer per hour but capable of running at top speeds of 400 kilometer per hour in the future.
(Sourced from main.omanobserver.om)
