Jordan Times reported that Greater Amman Municipality is conducting studies to construct a metro rail, the first phase of which will link downtown Raghadan to University of Jordan Street. According to a source, at a later stage, the metro will extend from Raghadan to the Airport Street.

The source said that an initial study of the project estimated the cost of the project at JOD 500 to JOD 600 million noting that a tender will be floated to carry out the project on the basis of build, operate and transfer. The 36 carriage train will operate between the two cities with an average of 5.36 minutes per trip.

The metro will be underground in some areas and a tunnel will be built for this purpose, added the source, who said the metro is an option instead of operating a light rail system in Amman.

Regarding the light railway between Amman and Zarqa, which extends for 26 kilometers, the Spanish-Kuwaiti consortium is expected to disclose financial details to the government soon in order to start preparing for the railway, which is expected to be completed in 2011.

The government has signed an agreement with the consortium to create the Amman-Zarqa railway at a total cost of JOD 236 million. The train, which will run on electricity, will be created on the basis of build, operate and transfer for a period of 30 years.

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AMMAN — Jordanian capital of Amman is planning to introduce modern transportation system to better serve the rapid-growing population, local The Jordan Times reported Wednesday.

Amman Mayor Omar Maani said Tuesday that there is a multifaceted long-term plan by 2025, including building a metro and introducing 200-passenger electricity-driven buses.

He said that Amman residents will feel the difference in public transport services by the year 2012 when the first phase of the planned metro project is in place.

The project will be completed by 2016, he added.

The electric bus will first shuttle between downtown Raghadan and Sweileh district, and the work will start by mid-2009, he said.

“We hope that by the year 2025, the entire transportation sector in the city will be at international level,” the mayor added.

According to Maani, the population in Amman is expected to rise to 6 million by the year 2025 from the current 2.2 million, while the number of vehicles has surged by 20 percent to some 780,000 during the past five years.

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AMMAN // The design contract for a US$1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn) metro system in Amman, the Jordanian capital, will be awarded within three months, says an official at Greater Amman Municipality.

Amman’s crowded streets are set to change following the approval of a new metro system

Rail transport is a major focus of economic development in Jordan, where migration to urban centres in the past 20 to 30 years has placed a strain on housing and transport.

“The metro plan is a huge investment and is part of our overall policy for solving the traffic problem in Amman,” said Samir al Mousa, the director of the Amman Masterplan Project.

“We have done very conceptual brainstorming about the main routes in the city which the system will serve.”

The municipality is now considering design proposals from international companies for the network, he added.

The network, which is likely to link Raghadan Station and Jordan University in its first phase and will be underground in some areas, is due to be completed over 10 years.

Last May, the ministry of transport signed a Dh1.2bn deal with a consortium of Kuwaiti and Spanish companies for the construction of a 26km railway between Raghadan station in Amman and Zarqa, the second-largest city in Jordan.

The railway will run on a dual track and is expected to carry about 100,000 passengers a day between the two cities. It will also connect Raghadan with the Queen Alia International airport in Amman.

Greater Amman Municipality is working to improve transport and housing infrastructure around the capital to cope with population growth almost doubling from 2.4 million over the next few years.

The authority is also working to ensure key property developments within the city are served by a transport network.

About 490 projects were approved last year, at least 407 of which are expected to continue as planned despite the downturn. The projects are a range of mixed-use developments and high-rises.

“Most of them are an output of the masterplan,” added Mr al Mousa.

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By Omar Obeidat www.jordantimes.com

AMMAN –– Around 700,000 cars, mainly from the Gulf countries, are expected to enter the Kingdom this summer, and the Public Security Department said it is prepared to deal with the traffic jams that have already become a familiar scene in the capital.

A familiar scene in the capital. The Traffic Department said it has prepared a plan to deal with heavy summer traffic conditions as around 700,000 cars are expected to enter the Kingdom this season (Photo by Nader Daoud)

According to Traffic Department Director Brigadier General Adnan Freih, this figure is similar to last year’s, but this year, road congestion is expected to increase due to several construction projects currently under way in Amman.

The Traffic Department has prepared a plan to deal with heavy traffic conditions by deploying more officers at jammed spots, providing visitors with brochures on traffic regulations and information hotlines, and increasing their awareness of construction sites, he added.

“There are several detours in Amman due to construction projects such as the intersection linking Shmeisani, Abdali and Jabal Amman. Traffic officers have been deployed to help ease traffic jams in these areas,” Freih said, also pointing out that the summer festivals currently taking place in the capital add to the difficulties facing road users and traffic police.

“Some traffic lights have been readjusted and set according to the relative traffic flow, in addition to changing the directions of some streets in the city in order to reduce traffic,” Freih noted.

However, Freih insisted that there is no bumper-to-bumper traffic where cars do not move for minutes, but explained that the number of cars in the city is increasing dramatically, noting that a total of 40,000 new cars were registered during the first six months of the year.

Meanwhile, the official told The Jordan Times that driver behaviour is another major cause of heavy traffic, when, for example, people double park their cars for minutes to go shopping.

Motorists in Amman say that trips to some areas, which normally would take five to 10 minutes, now take almost an hour during peak hours, particularly where construction projects are being carried out.

Mohammad Nasr, a taxi driver, told The Jordan Times in a recent report that the timing of the construction work was “not wise” as it coincides with the seasonal influx of tourists and Jordanian expatriates in the summer.

The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has said it is working to resolve continuous traffic congestion and build an integrated public transport system.

In a recent interview with The Jordan Times, Amman Mayor Omar Maani said the municipality established a special department to plan and manage the transportation sector in the capital, adding that GAM is working with the World Bank to build a “comprehensive public transportation system”.

The municipality will float a tender in November for investors to bid on building and operating Amman’s first “Metro”. In the same month, GAM will invite the private sector to invest in large buses that will run in special lanes.

In addition, the municipality is implementing new traffic intersections, at a cost of JD55 million, in various parts of the capital, the largest of which are currently under construction in Jabal Amman and Shmeisani, according to Maani.

However, the mayor said that these measures and projects would not end traffic congestion in Amman, but soften its impact and encourage more citizens to use public transportation rather than private cars.