Designs for Bahrain's monorail network are due to be submitted to the government later this month, it emerged on Monday.

Experts from Malaysian firm Scomi Engineering have been working on the project behind the scenes for the past year, company global projects vice-president V Kanesan told the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

He said it was too early to put a price on the monorail system, but said work could start within two years.

"We have been co-ordinating with the Bahrain government over the last year and have been invited to give them our proposal," said Kanesan, speaking from Mumbai, India.

"We are involved with designing and implementing the project and are now also on the lookout for a local partner.

"We have teams in place on the ground in Bahrain and are making substantial progress towards the project implementation."

The first phase of the project could constitute a 23km stretch of track linking some of the country's most congested areas, said sources.

Construction could begin in the first half of 2010 and the entire project measuring 83km could be completed by 2030, they added.

The Cabinet approved a plan to build a monorail network at the end of last month, but has approached Scomi to help it address the country's transportation problems as a technology partner.

Reports have suggested that Scomi was using its network as an oil and gas player in the Middle East to do the groundwork for monorail systems not only in Bahrain, but also in other countries of the region.

The Cabinet was told on September 28 that the Works Ministry had been commissioned to conduct an extensive feasibility study into the first phase of the project.

Cabinet Affairs Minister Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatala Al Khalifa earlier said the initiative stemmed from the government's resolve to decongest Bahrain's roads and pre-empt mounting traffic challenges.

He said under a suggested long-term strategy, Bahrain would use technology that has proved a success in countries facing similar traffic challenges.

Bahrain is also in the midst of a nationwide overhaul of its roads network, which is intended to help the country cope with a growing population, new infrastructure developments and the addition of 2,000 new cars to the roads every month. - TradeArabia News Service