Who Saudi railway Company
What The North-South Railway Project in KSA
When Due for completion in 2010
Why Finally the Kingdom is seeking to update its transport infrastructure in a way that will bring it firmly into the 21st century.
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is estimated to be the world’s 14th largest state, yet much of the country is still relatively isolated, even internally. In spite of being home to the world’s largest known oil reserves, the Kingdom currently has a mere two railway lines that run between Riyadh and the oil-rich city of Dammam. However, all that is about to change as the Kingdom unveils ambitious plans to construct railways that will serve the country by connecting it to the world, and just as importantly, itself.
Throughout the late 1990s, Saudi’s economy suffered as oil prices fell. In recent years, the government took advantage of the second oil boom to upgrade the decaying infrastructure and came up with a plan to help ease transportation of materials and people across the country. As a result, three major projects are underway: The North-South Railway Project, Project Landbridge and the Haramain high speed rail links. The priority, is the North-South (NS) project connecting the northern part of Saudi Arabia, near the tip of Jordan in the city of Al Haditha, to the Kingdom’s capital.
The NS’s journey of 2,400 km will pass through the cities of Jouf, Hail, Qassim and Sudair. Branches will connect at Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden phosphate mining company at Al Jalamid, the bauxite deposits at Al Zabirah and the processing plants located at Ras Azzwer. About seven stations will handle passengers and freight traffic, creating many new jobs for the Saudi youth, and help reduce the size of Saudi’s carbon footprint. The engineers on this project even took great care as to not disturb the native camels in the area by creating camouflaged bridges to assist the animals in crossing from one side of the track to the other. Some tracks had to also be elevated in parts, to avoid sinking into the sand dunes.
Saudi Binladen Group and the French Thales Group were awarded the 4.5 billion USD contract to build the signaling, ticketing, communication and security systems, which were modeled after European railways. Saudi Railway Company, established in 2006, is overlooking the NS project, which is due to be completed in 2011 for transport of phosphate and bauxite, with passengers slated to travel a year later.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf spoke after the signing of the contract and mentioned that the project was expected to transport more than four million tons of commodities and two million passengers annually. He stated the work would be completed in 42 months and was hopeful regarding the progress this deal would make possible for his country. Simply, he said, “We have gone a long way in building the North-South Railway”.
Investment in Saudi’s infrastructure is long overdue. The North-South project is vital for the continued growth of the Saudi economy and therefore for the region as a whole. The vast scope of the project is astounding in terms of the engineering involved, the obvious economic benefits and the environmental boons it will bestow on the country.
