The Government of Bahrain has approved the start of Phase 1 of the Bahrain Metro public-private partnership (PPP) project. The statement has noted that Phase 1 represents the first phase of the plans for the development of a 109-kilometer rail urban transit network.

Phase I consists of an elevated corridor with two lines having an estimated length of 28.6 km with 20 stations and two interchanges. The selected private partner for this PPP project will be responsible for the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DBFOMT) with a contract period of around 35 years. The metro will feature an elevated rail-based urban transit system and a fully automated, driverless GoA4 system operation. The initial capacity will be around 5000 PPHPD [Passengers Per Hour in Peak Direction], scalable to 23,000 PPHPD for each line.

The project will be procured through a 2-stage global tender process consisting of Request for Qualification (RFQ), planned to start in November 2021, followed by Request for Proposal (RFP). KPMG is the Lead Transaction Advisor, Egis is the Technical Advisor and DLA Piper is the Legal Advisor for the project.