The Saudi Railway Company (SAR) has awarded a SAR827m ($220m) contract for the construction of a 115-kilometre railway track between Jubail and Dammam to Greek company Terna and its local partner.

The new railway will support several industries in Saudi Arabia, transporting petrochemicals and metals between the ports of King Fahd Jubail and King Abdul Aziz Dammam. 

The contract award comes as the project management contract for the Saudi Landbridge rail project was officially awarded to US firms Parsons Brinckerhoff and Fluor Corporation. MEED reported on the contract award in January. The landbridge project is 950km double-track railway connecting Jeddah on the Red Sea to Riyadh.

Once this project is completed, the Jubail and Dammam railway will connect to the landbridge linking the ports on the east coast of Saudi Arabia with the Jeddah Islamic Port.