38 June 2016 | Metro Report International RIYADH Metro The rollout of the first trainset marks a milestone in the Riyadh metro project. Karol Zemek reports. S ince the groundbreaking cer- emony for the Riyadh metro on April 3 2014, around one-third of the US$28bn scheme has been completed, with the help of 35 000 workers from 30 countries. Work is progressing at 184 sites around the city, with roughly 0·5 km of tunnel being bored every week. More than 1 km of viaduct is being built per month, requir- ing the erection of 50 piers a day. Visible progress is being made away from Riyadh as well. e first two train- sets for a fleet that will eventually total 190 were recently completed at Sie- mens’ Simmering plant in Wien. One is being tested at the Rail Tec Arsenal climate chamber nearby, and dynamic trials at the Siemens test centre at Wil- denrath in Germany were scheduled to begin in May. ese form part of the fleet of 29 two-car sets that Siemens is supplying for Line 2 of the driverless metro. Based on the Inspiro family now in service in Kuala Lumpur and Warszawa, the trains are 37·9 m long with capacity for 251 passengers. ere are 63 seats including eight tip-up seats in three classes: first, family and single. A button-operated door separates the first and family com- partments, with a locked door between Riyadh megaproject progresses family and single class. First class is chiefly distinguished by more space, and features wider seats with higher back- rests and golden headrests. Headrests in single class match the line colour. All three classes include wheelchair spaces. Each car has three double doors, and the interiors feature dynamic line maps and passenger information screens sup- plied by Ruf. Audio-visual passenger information is also to be provided on the platform screen doors at stations. Work to adapt the Inspiro design to local conditions includes modified bo- gies, traction systems, brakes and doors specially designed to reduce sand in- gress. e powerful air-conditioning units require more room in the roof than is usual. Maximum design speed of the trains is 90 km/h and maximum operational speed will be 80 km/h. Siemens is also producing 45 four-car trainsets for Line 1, the only line of the six that will not operate two-car sets. e first of these 75·7 m long trains is nearly complete; it will have capacity for 522 passengers, including 123 seats and six tip-up seats. e aluminium shells are being fric- tion stir welded and are fireproofed so that flames from below will not pen- etrate into the passenger compartment for at least 30 min. Once series produc- tion of the Riyadh cars begins, Siemens expects to turn out one car body every 1½ to two days. Three rolling stock suppliers Work on the metro has been split into three packages, with a different rolling stock supplier for each. All three are working to the same design guide- lines, although the train dimensions are slightly different between the six lines. Siemens is supplying the most trains, and therefore had to start production earlier than the other two builders. e company is part of the Bechtel-led BACS consortium that also includes Almabani General Contractors and Consolidated Contractors Co. Siemens’ €1·5bn share of the US$9·45bn turnkey contract also includes signalling and electrification. Line 3 will be operated using 47 two- car Innovia 300 trainsets that Bombar- dier is supplying under its US$383m share of the US$5·21bn contract awarded to the Arriyadh New Mobility The first train for the Riyadh metro was unveiled at Siemens' Simmering plant on February 23. Around 500 m of tunnel for the Riyadh metro is being bored every week. Photo: Hill International MRIN-1606-riyadh-layout.indd 38 16/05/2016 14:17:24
Transcript
38 June 2016 | Metro Report International
RIYADH Metro
The rollout of the first trainset marks a milestone in the Riyadh metro project. Karol Zemek reports.
Since the groundbreaking cer-emony for the Riyadh metro on April 3 2014, around one-third of the US$28bn scheme has
been completed, with the help of 35 000 workers from 30 countries. Work is progressing at 184 sites around the city, with roughly 0·5 km of tunnel being bored every week. More than 1 km of viaduct is being built per month, requir-ing the erection of 50 piers a day.
Visible progress is being made away from Riyadh as well. The first two train-sets for a fleet that will eventually total 190 were recently completed at Sie-mens’ Simmering plant in Wien. One is being tested at the Rail Tec Arsenal climate chamber nearby, and dynamic trials at the Siemens test centre at Wil-denrath in Germany were scheduled to begin in May.
These form part of the fleet of 29 two-car sets that Siemens is supplying for Line 2 of the driverless metro. Based on the Inspiro family now in service in Kuala Lumpur and Warszawa, the trains are 37·9 m long with capacity for 251 passengers. There are 63 seats including eight tip-up seats in three classes: first, family and single. A button-operated door separates the first and family com-partments, with a locked door between
Riyadh megaproject progresses
family and single class. First class is chiefly distinguished by more space, and features wider seats with higher back-rests and golden headrests. Headrests in single class match the line colour. All three classes include wheelchair spaces. Each car has three double doors, and the interiors feature dynamic line maps and passenger information screens sup-plied by Ruf. Audio-visual passenger information is also to be provided on
the platform screen doors at stations.Work to adapt the Inspiro design to
local conditions includes modified bo-gies, traction systems, brakes and doors specially designed to reduce sand in-gress. The powerful air-conditioning units require more room in the roof than is usual. Maximum design speed of the trains is 90 km/h and maximum operational speed will be 80 km/h.
Siemens is also producing 45 four-car trainsets for Line 1, the only line of the six that will not operate two-car sets. The first of these 75·7 m long trains is nearly complete; it will have capacity for 522 passengers, including 123 seats and six tip-up seats.
The aluminium shells are being fric-tion stir welded and are fireproofed so that flames from below will not pen-etrate into the passenger compartment for at least 30 min. Once series produc-tion of the Riyadh cars begins, Siemens expects to turn out one car body every 1½ to two days.
Three rolling stock suppliersWork on the metro has been split
into three packages, with a different rolling stock supplier for each. All three are working to the same design guide-lines, although the train dimensions are slightly different between the six lines.
Siemens is supplying the most trains, and therefore had to start production earlier than the other two builders. The company is part of the Bechtel-led BACS consortium that also includes Almabani General Contractors and Consolidated Contractors Co. Siemens’ €1·5bn share of the US$9·45bn turnkey contract also includes signalling and electrification.
Line 3 will be operated using 47 two-car Innovia 300 trainsets that Bombar-dier is supplying under its US$383m share of the US$5·21bn contract awarded to the Arriyadh New Mobility
The first train for the Riyadh metro was unveiled at Siemens' Simmering plant on February 23.
Around 500 m of tunnel for the Riyadh metro is being bored every week. Ph
consortium. Bombardier is part of the E&M team, led by Ansaldo STS with a US$680m share; the consortium also includes an infrastructure team of Salini-Impregilo, Larsen & Toubro and Nesma. The first cars now under con-struction at the Sahagún plant in Mex-ico are expected to start test running in Kingston, Ontario, later this year.
Alstom is scheduled to deliver its first three Riyadh metro trainsets from its Katowice plant in Poland in 2017. Part of its Metropolis range, the two-car sets will be 36 m long and 2 710 mm wide. They will have bogies from Alstom’s Le Creusot factory, control systems from Villeurbanne, traction motors from Ornans and signalling equipment from Saint-Ouen; engineering design is be-ing carried out at Valenciennes. Traction subsystems and auxiliary converters are being supplied from Charleroi in Bel-gium, with passenger information and security systems coming from Madrid.
Alstom has a €1·2bn share of the US$7·82bn turnkey contract for lines 4, 5 and 6 awarded to the FAST consor-tium led by FCC and including Sam-sung C&T, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa and Setec. As well as 69 trainsets, Alstom is supplying Urbalis signalling, its Appitrack mechanised tracklaying technology and Hesop sub-stations which allow regenerated elec-tricity to be returned to the grid.
Project management for lines 1, 2 and 3 is being carried out by the Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants consortium of Parsons, Egis and Systra under a US$556m contract, while that for the other three lines is the responsibility of the Riyadh Advanced Metro Pro-ject Execution & Delivery consortium of Louis Berger and Hill International, which has a US$264m contract.
The 176 route-km network with 85 stations will include seven depots of be-tween 60 000 and 150 000 m2 and one control centre for all lines, which will also oversee the bus network. Four new power grid stations are being built, with a further eight upgraded to meet the ex-pected demand of 468 MVA. The power is due to be switched on at the end of the year.
Working with the publicAll six lines are due to open in 2019.
The ambitious construction timescale heightens the challenges of minimising disruption during construction. Project promoter Arriyadh Development Au-thority is taking various steps to help mitigate the impact. For instance, it has developed a smartphone app to guide drivers through traffic detours caused by construction work. The detours suggest-ed are based on extensive traffic flow modelling carried out for each work site
PROGRESS
Tunnelling in Doha nears completionWork on the Doha metro is also progressing well, with Qatar Rail reporting that the overall project is now around 40% complete.
Tunnelling on the Green Line was completed on March 30, when TBM Al Messila broke through at Education City. This followed the completion of tunnelling on the Red Line North with a TBM breakthrough between Legtaifiya and Qatar University stations on March 21. Boring of the 11·3 km Red Line North tunnel had started on July 19 2014. The four earth pressure balance TBMs achieved an average of 30 m per day at their peak, with the best daily rate of 42 m set by Lebretha on March 29 2015.
Work on the Red Line North package is being carried out by the ISG joint venture of Impregilo,
SK E&C and Galfar Al Misnad. Covering the section from Msheireb to Lusail, it includes seven underground stations and two above ground. QR says this section is more than 70% complete.
‘We and our colleagues in ISG have had to overcome some significant challenges’, said QR Managing Director Abdulla Al Subaie. ‘It is well know that one of our TBMs was flooded one year ago and the achievement today shows how effective our recovery operations were and that overall project progress was not affected.’
The north-south Red Line will link Lusail to Al Wakra, with a branch to Hamad International Airport. There will be 18 stations on the 41 km route. Construction has been split into two packages, and a further five TBMs are working on
the southern section.Six TBMs are being deployed on the
Gold Line and 10 on the Green Line. QR says tunnelling for the first phase of the metro is now 90% finished, with completion expected in the autumn.
On May 5 QR announced that the US$1∙4bn design and build contract awarded to a Samsung C&T-led consortium in 2013 for construction of the major interchange stations at Msheireb and Education City was being ‘terminated’, and the work would be completed by the local Consolidated Contractors Group. QR said it was working to minimise any risk of delay to the project. Opening of the first three lines is expected in the fourth quarter of 2019. n
and amalgamated for the whole city.Further back in the construction pro-
cess, ADA worked with contractors and customs authorities to accelerate the establishment of the seven precast seg-ment factories in Riyadh (and one more outside the city) that are dedicated to building the 84 route-km of viaduct with an average span of 36 m.
A further challenge has been to gain public support. A public relations campaign is underway, which includes initiatives like a competition to name the seven tunnel boring machines be-ing used for the project; this attracted 60 000 entries. Herrenknecht has sup-plied six of the 10 m diameter TBMs, and NFM Technologies the other.
Part of the publicity campaign tar-gets children, as it is especially impor-tant to change their mindset, accord-ing to ADA Metro Project Director Alwalid Alekrish. ADA expects an initial 1·16 million passenger-journeys per day to grow to 3·6 million, but he accepts that further work must be done to encourage metro use. Park-and-ride sites and integrated ticketing with the new bus network aim to encourage intermodal travel, but perhaps a more important part of the project is the aim
to change Riyadh into a more walkable city. To this end, a great deal of stress is being placed on enhancing the corridors through which the metro lines will run. ADA has said that the main stations are intended to place the metro at the heart of city life, with shopping and dining opportunities included.
The feeder monorail serving the King Abdullah Financial District, which is being developed separately from the metro, is also nearing completion. Bom-bardier has manufactured all of the roll-ing stock, and says it is awaiting comple-tion of the civil works in order to start the final testing and commissioning
The importance of the Riyadh metro has shielded the project to a large extent from low oil prices, which have affected other construction schemes. However, some of the more expensive station de-signs have been scaled back, according to Samer Tamimi of Hill International. Small delays have also appeared in the design work and land acquisition.
Tamimi contrasts the priority given to Riyadh with other metro projects in Saudi Arabia: work on the Makkah metro is practically on hold, while those in Madinah, Dammam and Jeddah are still in the early stages. n
Qatar Rail says that the styling of its metro trains has been inspired by the Al Faras Arabian mares.
