The main packages cover different sections of the railway. The first contract covers a 650-kilometre section from the planned fertiliser and aluminium complex at Ras al-Zour on the Gulf coast to the bauxite mine of Al-Zabirah, including the spurs to the Al-Zabirah mine site and Jubail. The second package involves the construction of 457 kilometres of track from Al-Zabirah to the mid-point of the Al-Nafud region.

The third contract calls for the construction of a 782-kilometre-long section from Al-Nafud to the Al-Jalamid phosphates mine and Qurayyat, near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders, in addition to the Al-Basayta spur.The fourth and final package entails a 480-kilometre section between Al-Zabirah junction and Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport. The tender will be issued at a later stage.

The local Al-Khodary Sons Company and the local joint venture of Al-Fahd with Al-Omair have started working on the advanced earthworks packages, covering the Jawf and Hail areas. The contractors will excavate and shore up more than 200 million cubic metres of earth. A group led by the US' Louis Berger is the design and project management consultant on the entire scheme, which is due to be completed by 2010.

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