Saudi Archirodon wins $101m rail contract

29 December 2010

Saudi Railways Organisation draws up masterplan that outlines the kingdom’s rail plans up until 2040

Saudi Archirodon has won a $101m contract to build a dual high-speed railway line between Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

The railway line will be for passengers and cargo and is expected to be completed by mid 2012. Abdulaziz al-Hokail, president of the Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) says that the trains will reduce the travel time between the two cities to less than three hours. Trains will run at 200 kilometres an hour.

This line does not form part of the Landbridge, says a source at the SRO.

The SRO has also drawn up a Saudi Railway Masterplan that outlines the kingdom’s railway development up until 2040. On 6 December, the SRO signed a SR5.2m ($1.4m) contract with the German Corporation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in a joint venture with local Fayez Zuhair Architectural Engineering and Consulting to develop the master plan.

The plan involves improving the operations of the existing network, forecasting the increasing demand of passenger traffic and freight volumes and executing the new rail projects that are planned such as the $7bn Haramain high speed railway (MEED 29:9:10).

The SRO has also now completed a study into linking the southern region to the kingdom’s rail network. One project will run 700km from Abha to Taif and another will run 660km from Jeddah to Jazan. A third line will run 300km from Jeddah to Yanbu on the Red Sea.

The new masterplan will study the feasibility of these projects.

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