The US’ Parsons Brinckerhoff has been awarded the $93.6m project management contract for the SR60bn ($16.5bn) Mecca Public Transport Programme (MPTP), at the heart of which is the mass rail transit project (MMRT).

The US firm was appointed to provide project management services for the MPTP on 7 July, as consultants and contractors gathered in Jeddah for an industry open day on the proposed Mecca transport plans.

The Mecca Mass Rail Transit Company (MMRTC), the client for the rail scheme, is a subsidiary of the Al-Balad al-Ameen Company, an entity created by the Mecca Municipality to develop the transport programme.

Early plans for the mass rail transit project include four main lines, 114 kilometres of track and 62 stations. France’s Systra is the designer for the rail scheme.

The MMRTC is planning to invite firms to prequalify for the first phase of the rail scheme before the end of 2013. The first phase of the project will cover 2 lines and will be split into four packages, which will include two civil construction packages, a signalling and telecommunications package and a rolling stock contract.

The MMRT feasibility study was prepared by a joint venture of France’s Systra and the US-based Aecom. The firms were appointed as consultants in April 2012. The rail project was originally planned to be developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, but in December MEED reported that the kingdom had dropped plans to procure the scheme through PPP.

Mecca’s transport programme will also contain a bus network, which will have a total length of 123km, and will have 147 stations, covering major highways and smaller local roads. Mecca has a population of about 1.5 million, and accommodates 2.5 million Hajj pilgrims and another 2.8 million Umrah visitors annually.