Plan for Muscat Metro to be submitted to cabinet soon

MUSCAT: The Minister of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology, Saeed bin Hamoud al Maawali, announced that the study of the Muscat Metro has been completed and will be presented to the Council of Ministers shortly .

During an interview with Radio Muscat yesterday, Al Maawali provided an update on the status of the Muscat Metro project — a 55 km metro line with an investment value of RO 1 billion,

“It is necessary to focus on public transportation, and therefore the esteemed Cabinet has entrusted the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology with the responsibility of studying the feasibility of this metro project. We have completed this study, and God willing, it will be presented to the esteemed Cabinet soon for discussion.”

He also shed light on the significance of public transport, “Public transportation is essential. Suppose we do not stop at some point and start to reform how transportation is done, especially transitioning from individual to mass transit. In that case, we will face a major crisis in the future, especially concerning congestion and travel time.”

The Minister added: “For example, according to the study, the average speed in Muscat is about fifty-five kilometers per hour, which is very suitable. If compared to similar speeds in other capitals, if we do not do anything by 2023, we will reach only 27 kilometers per hour, which is unacceptable.”

According to Al Maawali, expanding the Muscat Expressway will aid in curbing congestion but is not sustainable as a long-term solution.

“The expansion efforts by the Municipality of Muscat will hopefully prevent this. However, after 2030, there will be signs of another crisis, so it is necessary to do something important in public transportation during the period from 2025 to 2030. In the coming ten years, a decision must be made for an important public transportation project in Muscat.”

The Muscat Metro project is expected to be the first metro system in the Sultanate of Oman. However, Ministry officials shared that an enhanced public transport system is required before the establishment of the Metro project.

Speaking to the Observer last year, Net Zero Consultant at MoTCIT Eng Abdullah al Busaidi, shared that the Ministry is in the process of finalizing a public transport strategy which will be implemented during the second phase of the Green Mobility strategy from 2025 to 2028.