25 companies interested in constructing LRT in Almaty: Mayor Baibek
Mayor of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baibek mentioned the transport infrastructure development during a meeting with the city administration members.
"In Belgium, we held a big meeting. 25 companies showed interest in participating in the construction of new high-tech fast trams (LRT). This year we are going to lay tram lines, we will hold a two-stage bidding procedure. If we build this, i.e. more than 22.72 km from the Green Bazaar to Almaty Arena, it will greatly change the face of our city, make it [transport] even more advanced, affordable, and comfortable," said Bauyrzhan Baibek.
According to the mayor, the top priority is the development of public transport ensuring transition mainly to eco-friendly vehicles as outlined in the 2020 Almaty City Development Program.
"Currently, electric transport makes up 1/5 of all transportation in the city. If we take into account gas vehicles, it turns out that up to 60% of all public transport is environmentally-friendly. For the convenience of ordinary people, we are implementing a high-capacity bus rapid transit system (BRT), moving along specially designated corridors. The first phase, 8.7 km of lines, will be completed before the end of the year. We plan to launch the entire 22.4 km corridor in 2021," Mr. Baibek underlined.
Regarding the construction of the Big Almaty Ring Motor Road (BAKAD), the head of the city reminded that the work is already underway, while the major construction works will begin in spring upon suitable weather conditions.
"The BAKAD launch will relieve the city of 40-60 thousand cars a day, reduce harmful emissions, and stimulate our economy. We want companies of Almaty city to act as subcontractors, get orders, pay taxes, and create jobs - I think it's much needed. Therefore, we say: vehicles contribute to 80% of air pollution, we need to continue developing the system, switching transport to natural gas. Natural gas, of course, gets expensive all the time, there are some issues. However, in general, the country's gas supply infrastructure development will noticeably improve the environment, create new production facilities of small and medium-sized businesses, and greatly boost the implementation of economic and social projects," said Bauyrzhan Baibek.
The President supports such projects in Almaty, and the city attracts huge investments, the mayor of Almaty underscored.
He also said that Falkon Eurobus, a Kazakh-German company, plans to open in Almaty in summer a plant manufacturing third-generation electric vehicles for the city routes and for exports. The mayor assured that Tbilisi and Singapore are already interested in the future products of that plant as these will be third-generation buses compliant with the latest world trends in the automotive industry.
Earlier, Bauyrzhan Baibek said that in terms of capital expenditures the LRT project is considered as one of the most cost-effective in the world. The cost of construction including the rolling stock will amount to KZT 125-130 billion.