Saudi Arabia’s railway authority will seek international investment shortly in a project to build more than 1,000 km of new track across the desert kingdom.

Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) president Khalid Al Yahya said the company was planning a 950 km link between Jeddah and Riyadh, tying into an existing line between Riyadh and Dammam port.
It also wants to build another railway running 115 km north from Dammam to Jubail. The total cost of the two projects is expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
SRO will hold a ‘project day’ in London on January 31 to promote the plan among potential investors, before issuing invitations to apply for prequalification for the build, operate and transfer (BOT) scheme, company sources said.
It is seeking bids from consortia, which could include shipping lines, financial institutions, construction companies, rolling stock suppliers, rail operators and port operators.
The rail link from the Red Sea to the Gulf will primarily serve freight destined from Europe for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. A few passenger services are also planned.
“It will have a significant impact not only on the economy of the country but on the shipping dynamics of the region,” Yahya said.
Industry analysts say the railway will allow shippers to offload European exports in Jeddah instead of taking the long sea route around the Arabian Peninsula to Gulf ports such as Dubai.
Another SRO official said the company hoped to issue tenders for the project by June next year. He declined to estimate the cost of the plans but said it was a ‘multi-billion riyal’ scheme.
‘We are planning that once the contract is awarded and the work started it should take three years. SRO is also planning to upgrade existing Riyadh-Dammam links – a 450 km passenger line and a longer 550 km freight service, he said.