International Railway Journal
February 1, 2005

SAUDI Railways Organisation (SRO) launched its $US 1.3 billion rail landbridge project in London yesterday. This is the first of three projects designed to expand the existing railway. In total about 2900km of new railway will be built.

The landbridge will involve building a new 950km line from the capital, Riyadh, west to the Red Sea port of Jeddah, and a 115km line from the port of Dammam on the Gulf coast north to Jubail. The existing railway, connecting Riyadh with Dammam, will also be upgraded. Invitations will be invited within the next two months to pre-qualify for a BOT contract to design, fund, build, and operate the new lines. Tender documents will be issued in the third quarter of this year. Bids will be received and evaluated in early 2006 and a concession will be awarded in mid-2006. The new lines should open in 2010.

SRO, which is currently a government department, will be incorporated into the concession. The new lines will primarily carry freight traffic. A separate concession will be offered to operate passenger services between Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, and Jubail when the new lines open. SRO hopes to launch a second BOT project soon to build new passenger lines from Jeddah southeast to Makkah, and northeast to Madinah and Yanbu. The third project, which is outside SRO's jurisdiction, involves the construction of a line to carry minerals from Riyadh north to Hazm Al-Jalamid.