Khartoum TriTram

This proposal is voluntarily made to contribute and echo the calls to draw a
road-map that would rescue Khartoum from the current urban chaos; and
enable creation of a true metropolitan that represents the resilience of the
Sudanese people.

The proposal is pragmatic and practical to address the imminent problems as

concluded to be Urban Strategy, Transportation Planning and Land
Management. These key problems have collectively deep impact on
Economical, Ecological and Sociopolitical systems of the over populated yet
poorly planned sub-Saharan city.
This proposal briefly addresses the transportation planning, and based
on outcomes of an analysis of the urban strategy-to-be. Assuming it
would be; the following key challenges were concluded:

1. The dominating colonial grid design had no contemporary justifications

and should be replaced with new urban visions and implementations; as
all urban developments and land subdivisions blindly follow the same
patterns.
2. The uncontrolled urban spiral and growth of slums; due to inefficient
urban management and operations, whereas the urban land (2018) had
increased 300% in less than 20 years.
3. Absence of national demographic, economic and social policies had
driven the influx to the city that hosts more than 20% (2019) of Sudan's
population (43 mln capita with 2.4% growth 2019); therefore, urban
infrastructure are incompetent.
4. Despite the proportionally small public debt (US$ 55 bln 2018), yet the
GDP (US$ 123 bln 2018) is short to support the costly urban
regeneration and renewable; considering the low annual growth of
4.4%.
5. Stat of urban infrastructure is chaotic as no authentic data are available;
yet the wild guess suggested that power supply is not steady, drinking
water relays on wells and no sewerage networks. Transportation and
traffic are similarly chaotic.

The initial Urban Strategy had defined key elements to determine the
transportation master planning for Khartoum Metropolitan:

1. The city should have limits to control the growth, yet requires national
strategies to reduce the urban migration, rural development and
surgical solutions to rectify the inefficient urban planning.
2. The public transportation (80% share of TIS) includes various modes
that collectively produce the traffic jams and environmental pollution;
which should be organized in a more business-oriented manners; yet
satisfy the customers’ needs.
3. The existing route of the railways had exhausted the purposes and
should avoid the CPD routes and meet the contemporary views of land
port planning. Trading off existing Rail-Rights-of-Way shall generate
sufficient fund for replanting the new route and enhance the strategic
services.
 4. The practical concept is based on Tram Model, not LRT or Metro. Not
only to reduce required capital (approx. 70% less), but also to provide
quick solutions, without disturbing the existing road networks.
5. The proposal defines categories of the transit modes (4 mln daily trips)
and whereabouts to be used; in order to achieve the timely critical
targets and incorporate entrepreneurs and SMEs to continue serving
the public, and earn living within an organized policy.

Accordingly, and briefly; the short-term Transportation Strategy of

Khartoum Metropolitan shall provide:

1. Three independent rings of Tram service at the CPD of each of the three
cities of Khartoum Metropolitan.
2. Key stations at each of the rings shall either connect to a distant Transit
Nodes or been part of the Land Ports to establish the new national
transportation system.
3. Crossing the Nile shall be limited to 40-Seaters heavy Bus service, which
will connect the three Tram rings to each other. This will mitigate
principle traffic jams within 5km reduce around famous Khartoum
Confluence.
4. Medium Buses; 24-Seaters shall connect the Tram Stations with Transit
Nodes.
5. Light mode of transportation; 7-Seaters and Tik-Tok shall travel among
the Transit Nodes and surrounding neighbourhoods.
6. New Railways route will avoid the CPDs and have Central Stations at the
peripheral Districts, considering to be dual tracks with protected RROW.