THE MIDDLE East and North Africa (Mena) region has $225 billion worth of rail, metro, tram and bus rapid transit (BRT) capital investment programmes to 2030, a report said.

There are now 108 separate railway, metro, monorail, tram and BRT projects under bid, under design or under study in 14 Mena countries, said the report by Meed Projects.

More than 50 of them with a combined value of almost $140 billion are in the GCC, it said. Saudi Arabia has the greatest potential with projects worth $50 billion due to be completed by 2025.

Rail, metro, tram and BRT projects in Qatar worth more than $30 billion are scheduled to be finished by 2020, ahead of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Finals.

The third biggest rail market is the UAE, where $27 billion worth of projects is due for completion by 2030.

One of the biggest issues is pressure on the Middle East project supply chain and competing demands for steel, cement and skilled labour from other sectors of the region’s booming projects market.

About $2.2 trillion of projects are under bid, design or study across Mena,  with about half of this figure in the GCC. Meed Projects figures show that Saudi Arabia alone has a pipeline of more than $350 billion of projects.