UAE-based Advanced Rail Group (ARG) will partner with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting Company (RTCC) to bid on SR3bn ($800m) worth of rail projects in the kingdom.

The partnership will focus on rail projects that are part of the Saudi Railway Company’s (SAR) rail network.

SAR invited companies to submit prequalification documents by 30 July for a contract to build a railway line between Ras al-Zour, Jubail and Dammam (MEED 10:7:11).

RTCC is currently constructing an 817-kilometre section of SAR’s 2,400km North-South minerals railway line.

“This strategic joint venture will ensure both parties capitalise on each other’s strengths,” says Warwick Georgeson, general manager of ARG. “ARG’s decision to partner with RTCC was founded on their strong history in the kingdom and their successful completion of several high-profile projects in the region.”

ARG was formed in October 2010, when UAE based-Al Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) joined forces with leading Australian rail contractor John Holland, to pursue an expected $75bn in rail projects within the GCC region.