SAUDI Arabia plans to link its industrial city of Jubail and Dammam port to a rail network that connects to mining centres, the head of the company that is overseeing the railway said.

“We are preparing the design and tendering documents and will soon tender the project. This process will take several months and the construction is expected to start at the end of this year or early next year,” Rumaih Al Rumaih, chief executive of the Saudi Railway Company (SAR), said.

“The purpose of this project is to give access to factories in Jubail to use our railway network for transporting their products,” he said, without giving the cost of the planned 125-km Dammam-Jubail railway.

“The railway link is of vital importance for the development of the kingdom’s economy,” said Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf.

SAR said it has invited Saudi and global companies to pre-qualify for the Ras Azzour-Jubail link and the deadline for tendering is July 30.

SAR is managing the kingdom’s longest railway project, the 2,400-km North/South railway, and is financed by the state-run Public Investment Fund (PIF).

In May, it started initial operations on a 1,392-km mineral line, linking phosphate mines at Al Jalamaid and a bauxite mine at AzZabirah to processing facilities at the industrial hub of Ras Azzour on the Gulf coast. The railway also passes through the mining areas in the provinces of Jouf, Hail and Qassim.

Saudi Arabia has other railway projects including the Haramain Railway, which connects Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah and aims to link its lines to other Gulf countries in future.

SAR also plans to link Riyadh with Haditha, on the border with Jordan, with the construction of another line for passengers and general goods movement.

The kingdom is also studying the construction of a Landbridge railway line to link its eastern and western coasts.