Preparations to implement the proposed railway network linking all the GCC countries have been progressing well, Abdul Aziz Al Ohaly, Deputy Minister of Transport of Saudi Arabia said yesterday.
Al Ohaly was in Doha to attend the UITP MENA Congress and Showcase which concluded at Grand Hyatt Hotel yesterday. “Feasibility study on the railway project has already been completed. A meeting of the GCC Transport ministers in Muscat recently had assigned a panel to conduct detailed studies on the project. This shows that the project is still alive and is in progress,” Al Ohaly told this newspaper.
He, however, said it was too early to say when construction of the railway lines would actually begin and how long it would take to complete the project. He said Saudi Arabia had been investing heavily on developing its public transport system.
“Only three per cent of our population are using public transport, despite all the developments in this sector. Ours is a scattered country, geographically and this is the main challenge we are facing in this field,” said the minister. Al Ohaly, who is also chairman of the UITP Middle East and North Africa Division said the Doha conference was a success in terms of participation as well as the issues discussed.
“The active involvement of the participants has made this event a big success. We thank the officials and staff of Mowasalat for their hard work in organising this conference,” Al Ohaly added
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=October2009&file=Local_News2009102871859.xml
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
