Saudi Railways Organisation decided to delay the tender for the second phase of the Haramain high-speed railway between the holy cities of Mecca and Mediana while the designs for the future railway stations were completed.
At the beginning of April, the Organisation hired the British company Foster & Partners for the design of five railway stations (in Mecca, Jeddah, Jeddah International Airport, King Abdullah Economic City and Medina). The due date of the contract is November 2009. The SRO originally wanted to start the tendering process for the contracts to build the stations in April, but "it has been decided that the project needed world-class station designs because of the importance of the holy cities,"says one official at the SRO.
The tender could be issued in the third or fourth financial quarters of the year, the contract including only the construction works. The Organisation expects five consortiums to bid: one led by Saudi Binladin Group and Spain's Obrascon Huarte Lain (OHL); the Al-Shoula consortium, led by the Canada-based Vision Transportation Group; the Saudi-Japanese group, led by Acwa Power International and Mitsubishi; the Al-Rajhi Alliance, led by Mada Group; and the Saudi Oger consortium.
Source: steelmillsoftheworld.com
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