Jordan Watch : Upgrading Jordan's Transport System

This is an interesting article from Oxford Business Group reflecting on the growing momentum of growth in Jordanian transport system. I wish at least half these expectations will be met.

Hot on the heels of the selection of the consortium to build and operate the expanded Queen Alia International Airport, the ministry of transport announced on May 23 that it intends to develop a national rail network within the next 20 years.

Saud Nseirat, the minister of transport, said the rail network linking all the major towns and cities of the kingdom would carry passengers and freight. Once completed, it would also link Jordan with the rail infrastructure of neighbouring states.

This rail network is part of the government's plans to reduce the kingdom's dependence on roads and create a sustainable long-term transport policy. Furthermore, the ministry of transport is keen to establish rail routes along busy transport corridors to offer a cheaper and quicker alternative to car routes.

Meanwhile, it was recently announced that Infrastructure Development Company (IDC), a consortium of Chinese-Pakistani-Jordanian companies, won the bid for the Amman-Zarqa light rail route. The $240m deal will see a railway connecting central Amman with the industrial city of Zarqa through a 25-km line, which will use part of the existing Hejaz railway. As many as 50% of the country's population live in Amman and Zarqa. Therefore, it is expected that this new transport link will lessen the burden on the highway between the two cities.

The company will be required to set a fare limit on the route that does not exceed 0.50JD ($ .71) to ensure it provides a viable alternative to bus and service taxis operating between the two cities. The journey will take approximately 10 minutes with 78 trains running the route every day. With such measures, the government hopes to attract some of the 100,000 commuters between Amman and Zarqa, thus easing congestion and decreasing pollution levels. The 90-mph trains will be driven by electric power, which will lessen fuel dependence and offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to cars or buses.

These announcements come as the kingdom's freight rail infrastructure is being transformed. The privatisation of Aqaba Railway Corporation (ARC) has been in the pipeline since 2003, when the cabinet of ministers approved plans for its restructuring. The company, which oversees the transportation of phosphate rock from Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), is currently being prepared for privatisation. This will follow the usual pattern with ARC being converted into a public shareholding company owned by the government. A new law will then allow for ARC to be abolished and be renamed as Aqaba Railway Operating Company (AROC) before the signing of a transport agreement between the new company and JPMC and the registering of the new company. According to the Executive Privatisation Committee (EPC), the preparatory work for this was carried out in November 2006 and the process is expected to be completed by July 2007.

However, roads continue to dominate the kingdom's transport landscape. In 2005, there were 386,992 cars on the road and 1,838 buses. The ministry of transport has been trying to improve the standard of the public bus service, especially in the capital, as 49% of all vehicles operating in the kingdom are in Amman.

In line with the national strategy of the transport sector for the years 2005-2007, the aim is to modernise the bus fleet by offering tax exemptions to operators. This will be complemented by an increase in the number of buses operating in the capital where the Greater Amman Municipality has also been looking at ways to improve transport infrastructure and traffic routes. It is currently in the process of carrying out traffic studies and road capacity analyses, including a study of traffic volumes and the mix of vehicles along each traffic corridor.