DUBAI.The Middle East, one of the world’s last regions not yet served by trains, is in the midst of a railway boom, says French engineering consulting firm Systra. Systra, which is part of French rail operators Société National des Chemins de Fer Français, has a strong presence in the region. More than $40 billion in rail and metro projects are planned for the Gulf over the next decade. Jean Christophe Chuniaud, business development manager of Synestra Middle East, said, “Cities in the Middle East are expanding at an incredible rate and so need to develop their public transport systems to keep up with demand.” Dubai is building an urban metro system that is due to open in September 2009. Covering a distance of 75 kilometers, the $4.2 billion mainly elevated system is intended to ease the emirate’s serious congestion problem. There are more than 1 million vehicles on Dubai’s roads and 135 new vehicles registered every day. Congestion costs the economy an estimated $1.2 billion every year. Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority has earmarked $29.3 billion for transport projects through 2020.

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