The Government of Bahrain has approved the start of Phase 1 of Bahrain Metro public-private partnership (PPP) project, it was announced on Wednesday.

"Following a Market Consultation event held in March earlier this year, which received a highly positive response from the private sector, the government has decided to proceed to the tender stage." the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications said in a press statement.

The statement noted that Phase 1 represents the first phase of the government’s ambitious plans of developing a 109-kilometre rail-based urban transit network and consists of an elevated corridor with two lines having an estimated length of 28.6 km with 20 stations and two interchanges.

The PPP project, the statement said, will be tendered with the following features:

  • The selected private partner will implement the project on DBFOMT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain, Transfer) basis with a contract period of around 35 years.
  • The demand risk will be borne by the government while the private partner will receive availability-based payments along with performance-based deductions and incentives.
  • The government will provide a pre-determined amount as construction grant to the project company to fund a small portion of the capex.
  • The sites required for the metro corridor and the associated depot facilities have been acquired by the government at its own cost and will be handed over to the private partner at the start of the project.

The rail network's technical features include:

  • An elevated rail-based urban transit system with the latest technology, following international standards based on traditional steel rail solutions
  • A fully automated, driverless GoA4 system operation
  • Initial capacity of approximately 5000 PPHPD [Passengers Per Hour in Peak Direction] with the scope for scalability and expandability to 23,000 PPHPD for each line.
  • Ridership in the initial few years of operation is expected to be around 200,000 per day, with growth expected as more travelers shift from using their private cars to the Metro system.

The project would be procured through a 2-stage global tender process comprising Request for Qualification (RFQ), which is  expected to commence in November 2021, followed by Request for Proposal (RFP). 

The statement also noted that the government is actively considering additional measures and support to further enhance the overall viability of the strategic project.

It added that bids will be open to interested participants as part of consortium partners and downstream contractors able to undertake the comprehensive scope involving design and construction of civil structures like viaduct, stations, etc., procurement, operation and maintenance of the transit system over the contract period as well as financing the cost of the project.

KPMG is the Lead Transaction Advisor, Egis is the Technical Advisor and DLA Piper is the Legal Advisor for the project.

In September,  Bahrain had issued fresh shortlist for metro extension consultancy and preliminary design services contract.

In August, Zawya Projects had reported that Bahrain is expected to award the consultancy contract for enabling works design for Phase 1 and Phase 1A of the Metro by the fourth quarter of 2021.

Bahrain has extensive experience of successfully procuring large infrastructure projects on a PPP basis across sectors including the Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Al Dur 1 & 2 Independent Water & Power Project, Bahrain LNG, Bahrain bus system, Muharraq STP and Northern City and Al-Lawzi housing projects.

SDC Deal Number: 3830431158 

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon) 

© ZAWYA 2021