Oman is pressing ahead with plans to launch a Muscat Metro to boost connectivity in the capital and place it at the heart of a rail revolution gathering pace across the region.
The public transport project will put Muscat in the company of other major Gulf cities including Dubai, Riyadh and Doha in adopting urban rail systems to spur economic growth. Highlighting the continued ambition of Gulf nations to maintain economic development, the 55km line is to link Sultan Haitham City with Ruwi. Muscat International Airport will be included among the 42 stations on the network.
The infrastructure initiative – developed in partnership with France – is central to Oman Vision 2040, which aims to diversify the sultanate's economy and drive development. A launch date for the Metro, which has been in the pipeline since 2023, has not yet been disclosed.
Muscat Metro is part of what Joseph Salem, of management consultancy Arthur D Little Middle East, described as “a major push” for rail projects in the Gulf region. Mass transit in Oman is now “quite critical” to ensure “a future-ready economy”, Mr Salem, global head of growth in the company's travel and transport practice, told The National.
Meeting demands of growing cities
“With the economic development of the capitals, you are seeing an increase in congestion, you’re seeing an expansion in terms of urban planning and you’re seeing expansion in terms of the real estate development,” he said. “It’s becoming more and more critical to provide an alternative solution for the congestion, and more critical to connect the main hubs into a city at the metropolitan level in the most efficient manner.
“The most efficient model, the backbone for the mass transit, is the rail system. Therefore, major cities, major capitals, are really now assessing the rail system, as it is the main driver for economic growth.”
Rise of rail
Muscat Metro follows Dubai Metro, which opened in 2009, Doha Metro, which launched in 2019, and Riyadh Metro, which began operations in 2024. There is also a metro for pilgrims travelling between holy sites in Saudi Arabia, while the kingdom has plans for a series of lines in Makkah.
-
Passengers board the Etihad Rail train after it arrives in Abu Dhabi. All photos: Victor Besa / The National -
The inaugural service left Fujairah and carried passengers across the UAE to Abu Dhabi -
Passengers wait to scan their tickets before leaving the Mohamed bin Zayed City station in Abu Dhabi -
The Mohamed bin Zayed City station is one of the first to open on the national network -
A young passenger is dressed for the occasion as he heads to the Etihad Rail passenger train -
Passengers onboard the train in Abu Dhabi -
Travellers arrive at the Abu Dhabi station before embarking on one of the first passenger services
At the same time, national and international rail is growing in the region. Etihad Rail began passenger services between Abu Dhabi and Fujairah on June 30, the starting point for a major national network that will link to a wider Gulf rail project.
More metros are likely to be developed in the region. Mr Salem said that the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Damman were the most obvious places where such projects would work. There have been proposals for metros in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City and Bahrain.
Mr Salem said that in some parts of the region, an alternative to a metro may work just as well. In Bahrain, for example, a bus system, which has been proposed alongside a metro could be useful.
“For Abu Dhabi there’s always the question of the viability and the efficiency of the metro system,” he said. “By having multiple islands, it’s a city that’s scattered and where you have alternatives in the form of efficient bus systems ... so therefore the case is not as clear.”
Significant investment
The demand for a metro, which typically will work better in high-density urban areas, has to be strong because subsidies are often required for construction and operation.
“Metro systems are incredibly expensive, so you need a lot of people likely to use them,” said Marcus Enoch, professor in transport strategy at Loughborough University in the UK and the author of Roads Not Yet Travelled: Transport Futures for 2050. “You’re looking at 20,000 passengers per direction per hour for the larger metro systems. If it’s underground, it’s more expensive. If it’s above ground, like [part of] Dubai, it’s probably less expensive."
Increases in land values and rents around stations may offset construction costs, with this model of transit-oriented development seeing notable financial success in Hong Kong. The Omani authorities were keen to promote transit-oriented development, something that will attract investors and developers, Mr Salem said.
Tracking progress
National rail schemes can have similar effects and development is expected around the Etihad Rail station in Fujairah. Dubai Metro, which is expanding from the current Red and Green lines to include Blue and Gold routes, demonstrates how a metro can promote city growth, he added.
“When you look at the real estate, when you look at the valuation and the upside that’s been created across the existing metro lines, the case is apparent that it has been successful from a transport perspective, but also from an urban development perspective,” he said. “That has led to the larger investment that is going into the Blue line and now into the Gold line. And we expect that development to continue with new lines to be added into the future to support the urban growth of Dubai.”
Adding new lines significantly increases the benefits, Prof Enoch said. It suggests that an eventual expansion of the Muscat Metro could be of great value.
“If you have a network, the number of possible destinations increases,” he said. “If you have two [lines], the network effects are probably more than double. As soon as you start adding new lines, the possibility of people making journeys they couldn’t make before dramatically increases.”
Staying on the move
Metros also make it easier to live in non-central areas and commute to work, Mr Salem said. “You have the ability to go to school, to go to university in a cheaper manner,” he added. “You have the ability to live outside of the city centre with lower rent, so therefore improving the overall cost of living, but also improving the liveability within these cities.”
So a metro, while typically not the main factor that will attract foreign residents to a particular city or country, is one of the “compelling elements” that draws them in, Mr Salem said.
But metros are not targeted only at commuters, even if they account for the vast majority of passengers. Tourists can also “gain access to a seamless way of transportation within the city”, making it a better place to visit.
Although often touted as a way of reducing congestion, their ability to do this in the long term is unclear.
“Metros do have the possibility that they can attract car users to use them,” Prof Enoch said. “They can cause a mode shift away from the car. The question is whether the car trips that get removed get replaced by car trips that people wouldn’t have made otherwise.”
While such induced demand might cancel out the removal of some car journeys, that need not be seen as a negative. “You could argue you’re generating economic and social benefit from that, because you have increased the capability of people to move around,” he added.
