Metro Jeddah Company has invited companies to express interest by 3 September in the design-and-build civil works for the metro component of the $12bn Jeddah Public Transport Programme (JPTP).

The metro network will feature four lines, with a total of 113 kilometres of elevated double track, 44km of tunnel, 85 stations and five depots.

The metro project civil works details include:

• Red line: 24 stations, 15km tunnel, 45km elevated double track
• Blue line: 19 stations, 7km tunnel, 27km elevated double track
• Green line: 12 stations, 14km tunnel, 4km elevated double track
• Orange line: 30 stations, 8km tunnel, 37km elevated double track

The criteria for selecting the contractors are similar to the ones set for the LRT and tram project. They include technical capability, financial strength and experience of working in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia.

The required technical expertise is more complex. It entails experience in the design-and-build of urban tunneling structures utilising tunnel boring machines (TBM) as well as in custom-fit TBM solutions, and experience in pre-cast segment fabrication. The contractors should have also led three projects involving the design-and-build of urban underground structures as well as experience in railway system integration works, in addition to proven safety records.

The contractors should also present proof of their financial standing by submitting audited financial statements in the past three years, with the turnover broken down according to each design-and-build segment, such as the tunnels and the stations, and according to the geographic source of revenue, which could be domestic or overseas.

The client also requires a civil and building work turnover of at least SR10bn ($2.6bn) for each of the past three years.