Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

Saudi gigaproject developer Neom has floated an expression of interest (EoI) notice to consultants for the design of a freight rail network connecting to the Port of Neom at Oxagon.

The scope of work includes project feasibility studies, concept design and route alignment.

The EoI notice was issued on 14 September, with a submission deadline of 16 September.

The estimated 400-kilometre (km)-plus rail line is expected to connect the Port of Neom with Saudi Arabia Railways’ (SAR) North-South Railway at the Al-Baseeta junction.

SAR’s North-South Railway is a 2,750km network built primarily to move minerals from mines in the north of the kingdom to industrial and export hubs on the Gulf coast. Its core route links the Al-Jalamid and Baitha phosphate and bauxite mines to Ras Al-Khair, Jubail and Dammam, with branch lines to Riyadh and to the Jordanian border at Al-Haditha.

Al-Baseeta junction, where Oxagon's proposed line would connect, sits on this network in Al-Jawf province, in the northwest of the country. The railway also carries a passenger service between Riyadh and Qurayyat, and has transported commercial freight such as sulfur and phosphoric acid.

The Port of Neom currently has no rail link to the rest of Saudi Arabia, meaning cargo landing there depends on road transport or a further sea leg to reach Riyadh, the Gulf coast or export markets beyond.

Connecting to the North-South network at Al-Baseeta would give the port direct rail access to the kingdom’s interior and, via existing branch lines, to Jordan and the Gulf coast industrial cluster around Ras Al-Khair, Jubail and Dammam.

The proposed link would also give SAR’s network a new outlet to the Red Sea. Until now, the North-South Railway has been oriented around Gulf coast export points, but a connection to Oxagon would provide a second maritime gateway on the opposite coast, allowing mineral and freight traffic from the north of the kingdom to reach either coastline.

The latest development follows Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) naming Neom as one of six strategic ecosystems in its 2026-30 strategy.

The backing comes as Neom’s operational focus appears to be evolving in response to shifting regional dynamics and global economic conditions. For example, on 15 April Neom posted on its official X account about a new Europe-Egypt-Neom-GCC corridor, describing it as a faster route for time-sensitive goods.

Oxagon project progress

Several major projects have made steady progress at Oxagon. Earlier this month, Saudi artificial intelligence (AI) company Humain and data centre developer DataVolt started construction on an AI data centre at Oxagon. 

Last month, construction works on the $8.5bn Neom Green Hydrogen project at Oxagon were completed, and the facility has now entered the commissioning stage ahead of commercial operations targeted for 2027.

The project is designed to produce up to 600 tonnes a day of green hydrogen, which will be converted into green ammonia for export. It is supported by about 4GW of solar and wind power generation capacity, with the renewable power generated being used to produce hydrogen through electrolysis.

In 2024, Neom awarded an estimated SR4bn ($1bn) contract to a joint venture of El-Seif Engineering Contracting, Hassan Allam Construction and China Harbour Engineering Company for Terminal 1.

The Duba port expansion has progressed in two phases, awarded respectively to Boskalis/Besix/Modern Building Leaders and Deme/Archirodon.

The port has operated since 2022 and currently handles 250,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with capacity planned to reach 1.5 million TEUs by 2030.