I’ve posted about the Kuwait subway system before and it seems like its becoming a reality. I spoke to someone connected to the project and had him explain where the project stands today, how they got here and whats next. You can watch the short interview above. I can’t wait for this to become a reality since there is going to be a subway station right next to my house! [YouTube]
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32 replies on “Kuwait Rapid Transit a reality”
I wish it becomes a reality soon. The traffic in Kuwait today is unbearable.
Two years to decide on winning bid.
Then four to five years per railway line.
Throw in five years due to ‘variations’ and govt. Infrastructure complications and bureaucracy, and were looking at 2017 before you even see anything.
I work in construction-Related biz and I know how these things eventually work out (I.e. First ring road).
This will help the expats a lot, particularly those that rely on the current inefficient, inadequate bus system. it still relies on pedestrian transport from the station to the destination / origin. however, this move requires exposure to the outside which, during most of the year, is horrible to experience – especially if you’re carrying things.
i want to know what’s happening with plans for roads. obviously, expanding the road network (8th ring road) is sprawling the grid, but what about the existing highways and, particularly, junctions. all major intersections cause a slowdown in traffic because the guy on the fast lane wants to quickly take his exit, slowing down the fast lane until he gets his way. and in the congested exit, the guy wants to overtake everyone, climbing over cateyes to squeeze in, worsening the bottleneck. then from an exit, getting onto the highway is confronted either with congestion leading to the next exit or greedy bastards who don’t want to give you the chance. they just want to make you wait.
and while i’m on the subject, the text on the new public address systems is far too small, unsafe. i have to look up when i get to the sign, and i lose sight of the mess of drivers in front of me.
the way i see it, we need a new layer of networks above the existing roads, kind of like how they piggy-back trains and roads near osaka in japan. 3-dimensional infrastructure.
back to the subject, i like the idea of the alternate system to get around kuwait. for it to be successful, it has to be planned with large parking spaces to make it more convenient for the driver as well as the pedestrian to get to the destination.
yeah.
too little too late .
looks nice but who’s gonna take it? even foreigners buy cars and drive so it wouldn’t change the traffic
i’d take it friday night to the avenues. the trip would take less time than finding a place to park
They got a counter setup at Avenues called Kuwait Metro which is a private company who owns the main share have designed the entire metro route and will soon pass it onto the contractors here and i heard they are trying to get Spanish Trains into Kuwait…!! 😉
They got a counter setup at Avenues called Kuwait Metro which is a private company who owns the main share and have designed the entire metro system and submitted it to the ministry and will soon pass it onto the contractors here and i heard they are trying to get Spanish Trains into Kuwait…!! 😉
If they are going to attempt this, then they should at least live up to Dubai’s Japanese rail system:
*Pilotless/automated trains.
*Wifi or Wimax on all train routes.
*Parking lots adjacent to metro lines
*Metro lines with proper shops (coffee shops, newstands etc) so people can pick a coffee and paper and get on the train – this might encourage people to commute (that is if the municipality doesnt ‘ban’ the shops as in the gas stations…)
*Proper maintenance and clean interiors.
*Proper security procedures including 24-7 camera surveillance of all stations, trains, and parking lots.
* Proper automated card/subscription service for people – annual tickets etc – similar to E-gate.
The idea is nice, but I think the network not well destructed, I hope they plan to make sub networks so that we wont need to use cars *for people who want to use the train all the time*.
lool I mean distributed.
stupid auto correct XD
A reality for sure. The year 3000 !
Mark I think you will grow verrrrrrrrrrrrrry old before this completed……
Jaber Stadium is good example of Kuwait’s Mis-Government!
i find it funny tat kuwait wants to set up a whole metro system.
dubai did it, and oh my they needed it SO SO BAD, and yet it hasnt lived up to expectations, still heavy traffic in dubai, something they thought might disappear with the metro.
kuwait honestly isnt bad at all when it comes to traffic. metros are for places where gas/petrol is bloody expensive. not kuwait.
Is it only me who feels it or is there a change?I feel like Q8 is really developing something… trying to compensate the sleep of the last 30 years..The old pics of Q8 are showing a highly developed country… the new pics dont…so lets look for the near future 🙂
I don’t believe him when he said that Ineco “studied everything about Kuwait”. That doesn’t seem evident in the plan that they made. It has lots of redundancies and doesn’t serve the dense areas of Kuwait as much as they need it to be (especially Salmiya and the City).
There doesn’t seem to be a larger urban concept here at work here, as it’s just a series of stops that follow the major roads and not urban density.
If it was up to me, I would suggest that the larger goal is to create completely walkable urban zones (Hawalli, Salmiya and the City) and try to pack in as many stops as possible; making sure that you can comfortably walk to a station from anywhere in these areas. This would mean that the people who are working and living there have the OPTION of living a car free lifestyle.
The existing plan doesn’t do this at all, and will suffer the same problem as Dubai in that it will link the major buildings and roads together, but won’t serve as a catalyst for healthy urban development.
Still, it is much better than nothing, but its a shame that so little thought went into integrating this project with a larger and comprehensive idea of rethinking Kuwait as a city.
https://www.hilaliya.com/
this might encourage people to commute (that is if the municipality doesnt ‘ban’ the shops as in the gas stations…)
look at the new gas stations, they have a shop build in..
Jens
It took them 4 years to build the underpass from 5th ring road to the Bedaa roundabout.Something that would have taken a year anywhere else. Combine that with frantic in-house fighting in parliament over who gets what tender,and you are looking at 10-15 years at least to have anything resembling a metro system in Kuwait.
NGH.
Never Gonna Happen.
Guys, stop being so negative. This project WILL happen.
Its a different matter that by the time the first train runs, people will have flying cars and jet-packs.
Seriously. Why are people so pessimistic? “Oh no the world is going to end!!010101!”
For once in your lives, try to be positive about something and stop crying about things. Is this like a new fad in Kuwait to be pessimistic about everything?
For those who are saying things like “No, they’re doing it wrong, they should do it like…” I’m pretty sure they know more about this then you do, its their job.
Patrick… the reason people are so pessimistic is not because we think it’s not going to happen, but looking at Kuwait’s recent history of governmental projects the process takes soooo long. By the time this project actually completes, ignoring the fact on whether it’s even been planned out right or not, I doubt the building where Mark currently lives which even exist.
Proof of this is the construction of bridges and highways in Kuwait. The current construction of the first ring road was planned around two decades ago, they started implementing it a few years ago, and it is supposed to be complete in 2 months… and that’s not going to happen.
As for your comment on they know more than any of us do, well yes that was apparent when they agreed to high-rise buildings around the country with insufficient parking lots and also the catastrophe of a highway that the 5th ring road ended up being even after they added bridges and tunnels.
So the same bureaucrats that can’t manage basic infrastructure -like keeping a sewage plant functioning – are gonna make this a reality?
yeah, right.
First off look behind the company. Look where the money goes and you will find the real reason behind it. Usually real estate value at rail station stops increase by 300%.
The government is not behind this plan at the moment. Its a property development company. No research has been put into this. These stops have been put there not because of necessity to the population but more for the land value of certain areas to increase.
Don’t rush into such a project just because Dubai has it. If you do rush, it will turn into another moneymaker for certain developers yet supply no real answer to the population. It will be a giant waste of time and money.
Please research the idea first. Get a professional company to study it. Not some real estate company. Then implement the plan.
don’t forget 4th ring rd. most of the bridges there are temps , now it is more than 20 years and still temps .
Will there be a “Louis Vutton” or “Armani” branded wagons for some people in Kuwait? 🙂
I think the subway will be for labors at the end.
@ Patrick:
“I’m pretty sure they know more about this then you do, its their job”
yes it’ their job, but how did they get this job? W A S T A…connections over comptence…always was always will be….dude some ministers get their lucerative jobs just by being from a certain “famiglia”
I’d also like to add something to what B_G_T_R said. Not everyone is good at what they do. Just because you have a certain title doesn’t mean you have the brains for it.
Barrak: Wouldn’t this at least be a good feasible first step? Couldn’t they add more stops later? This could be the starting point and once they get the main grid done then they could focus on adding more stops? I am just asking not sure if its doable.
Mark: Adding more stops to an underground tunnel is practically impossible. It’s much easier when it’s above ground, especially if it’s on grade (not elevated). But that’s not the problem it’ll face. The plan by the KOTU is bad because it always follows the major highways. In some places that makes sense, but in order for you to get the best value out of it, you have to carve it deep into the heart of urban areas. The stops have to be easy to walk to, they can’t be distant structures that are only really accessible by car. What would be the point in that? Thats how the Dubai metro is, except for the stops in old Dubai, which are underground and in a dense urban and walkable area.
The best way to think about this is to design the metro in a way so that it can become a catalyst for dense urban development. Imagine new urban hotspots bubbling up everywhere without having to worry about parking or car accessibility… But I have this great fear that it will end up being a shuttle service between all the major malls and not much else…
Sad thing is this is only going to end up being an easier way for 3aged kids to get to the city… ;p
Each line is going to take 4 to 5 years? no comment.
I agree with Dub. Those ******* kids will be all over Kuwait destroying everything.
I’ve heard from an American who took the bus just once from his work to his house not very far and he got verbally attacked by those kids and laughed at and says that when they got off the bus they spitted on him behind the window.
Just imagine how it would feel if we had il3eed ilwa6ani all year long.