The traffic-congested Red Sea city of Jeddah will build an elevated light rail system worth SR21 billion ($5.6 billion), the region’s governor said.

The rail would be part of a new mass transit project including 816 buses and a tramway for tourists, Prince Khalid Al Faisal, governor of the Mecca region which includes Jeddah, was quoted as saying in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Prince Khalid did not give any time frame for the project, which would serve a rapidly growing population of about four million.

The main transportation hub for nearby Mecca, Jeddah’s population swells by hundreds of thousands during the peak periods of the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.

Flash floods during the Haj in November 2009 left more than 120 people dead and exposed the serious infrastructure shortcomings of the city, sparking a boom in road, bridge and drainage projects.

The new light rail will complement a high speed railway currently being planned to link Mecca, Jeddah and Medina.

The government is expected to choose between French and Spanish consortiums who bid for that project before the end of the year. – TradeArabia News Service