KSA prepares contracts for Land Bridge rail link

Saudi's massive rail network means major construction opportunies for contractors. Photo: Illustration only.

RELATED ARTICLES: KSA cabinet approves $7bn Landbridge rail project | Saudi Landbridge finalises route | Saudi Landbridge contract to be awarded by March 2008

The Saudi Railway Organisation (SRO) may be closer to a decision on which consortia will be awarded the build contract for the $7bn Land Bridge rail project.

The SRO's board met this week in Dammam to discuss its ongoing projects, and SRO President Abdul Aziz Al-Hokail stated that the company was preparing to invite contracts for the Land Bridge to connect the Red Sea port city of Jeddah with Dammam on the country’s Arabian Gulf coast. The project will be financed by the state-owned Public Investment Fund and will involve the construction of 950km of line between Riyadh and Jeddah, plus another 115km between Dammam and Jubail.

Once completed, the nation’s first link between the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf will see freight speed between Jeddah and the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam. It’s seen as a vital transport link between east Asia and Europe, and will dramatically cut cargo transit times between Asia, Europe and America via Jeddah's Red Sea port.

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The design speed of passenger trains is expected to be 250kph and 140kph for freight trains, making the trip between Dammam and Jeddah around 12 hours for cargo. Sea-borne freight can take up to nine days to travel between the two destinations.

In October, the SRO announced that KSA's Council of Ministers has approved plans to build its $7bn Landbridge megaproject, and that four consortia — Agility PWC Logistics Consortium, Mada Consortium, Saudi Binladin Consortium and Al-Muhaidib/ACWA (Tarabot) Consortium — had presented their financial and technical offers to undertake the project.

The SRO has billions tied up in rail projects around the country. The largest is the enormous North-South railway which extends between Haditha point on the Saudi border with Jordan to Riyadh - a massive 1400km line. The project is in full swing with the  818 km-long first phase, known as Phase A, is being constructed by the Al Rashid Trading and Construction Company (RTCC)-Barclay Mowlem-Mitsui joint venture (JV) under a $765m contract awarded by Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance. China Railway 18th Bureau and Al Suwaiket JV will build the 440km section from Al Zubairah (bauxite) to Al Nafude (south of Al Jawf) while Saudi Binladin will build the Al Zubairah-Ras Az Zawr section (576km).

During the meeting, the SRO also announced that it was to study the viability of metro rail services for the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as part of a national review of its services.

The board also reviewed progress on the first phase of the Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHSRP). More than 45 bridges, including the Pilgrim Lounge Bridge and the Air Base Bridge, on the HHSRP have been completed while work on 154 other bridges is under way. More than 500 flood drainage culverts have also been constructed, SRO President Abdul Aziz Al-Hokail said.

Currently, the only sections of rail in use in Saudi Arabia include: a passenger service between Riyadh and Dammam; a freight line that starts at King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam and ends in Riyadh, passing through Al-Ahsa, Abqaiq, Al-Kharj, Haradh and Al-Tawdhihiyah.