Binladin and Thales to sign North-South Rail deal

The North-South railway is the third multi-billion dollar rail project the Saudi government is developing. (Getty Images)

Saudi Binladin Group and the French defence firm Thales are due to sign a US $533 million (SAR2 billion) contract today to build the Kingdom’s North-South Railway.

Government officials said the two companies will build signaling and security systems for the main 1800km section of the railway, the new agency AFP reported.

Another 600km section, linking Riyadh with Al Zubairah in the north that includes a passenger line, will be awarded at a later date.

The railway, costing $2.8 billion, will link bauxite and phosphorus mines in the north of the country with processing and export facilities at Ras Al Zour.

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FEATURED COMMENT Great news for Saudi Bin Ladin contracting Group. They can achieve this target and sucessfully complete this project.   1 Comments Read more comments »

The North-South railway is the third multi-billion dollar rail project the government is developing.

The first is a 444km high-speed railway linking the holy cities of Makkah and Medina and the second is the Landbridge project that will link Jeddah with the coastal cities of Dammam and Jubail.

Check out Saturday's edition of Construction Week magazine for an in-depth feature about Jubail Industrial City