Riyadh Metro

Rapid urbanisation and economic growth are placing ever increasing demands on road networks in the Middle East and there is growing acknowledgement in the Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) on the need for infrastructure investment to ease traffic congestion. The situation is particularly acute in Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where a rapidly growing population (from 150,000 in the 1960s, to a projected 9 million inhabitants by the end of the decade) has made the building of an urban rail system an imperative in order to provide additional public transportation capacity, relieve motor traffic, and provide a framework for additional development. The opening of the first metro system in the GCC – in Dubai in 2009 – has helped spur regional ambitions for similar projects across the Middle East and North Africa.