Saudi Arabia’s Public Transport Authority (PTA) has received prequalification applications for the contract to provide operations and maintenance (O&M) services for the kingdom’s mainline railway networks.

The scheme comprises the initial phase of privatising the kingdom’s railway sector.

According to the prequalification questionnaire seen earlier by MEED, companies may ask to be prequalified for either one or multiple modules of the privatisation process.

The O&M services sought are split into three modules: infrastructure management, passenger operations and freight operations.

“It is the intention of the PTA to request RFP [request for proposal] participants to submit a single proposal for the full scope,” the document said. “Companies prequalified for individual modules will be encouraged to form consortiums along with other prequalified companies for the rest of the modules.”

The scope of works potentially includes the operation of freight and passenger services, management and maintenance of passenger stations, management and maintenance of dry ports, maintenance of rolling stock, and signalling and telecommunications infrastructure.

The expression of interest and prequalification requests concern the existing Riyadh to Dammam network and the current North to South Railway, and potentially include schemes that are currently being planned, including the GCC rail line and the Saudi Landbridge project.

The opportunity excludes O&M services for the Haramain High-Speed Railway, which is expected to enter commercial operation this year and will be operated by the Spanish team of Adif and Renfe.

It is understood the succeeding phases of the programme include developing several schemes – among them the planned Saudi Landbridge project and the electrification of the Riyadh-Dammam network – as public-private partnership projects.

PTA says it expects to issue the RFPs in the first quarter of 2018.