JEDDAH, 30 March 2008 — Feasibility studies are being conducted on building two new railway lines — one linking the summer resort of Taif and southern city of Khamis Mushayt with East-West Railway and the other linking Jeddah with southern border city of Jizan, said Abdul Aziz Al-Hoqail, president of the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO).
Al-Hoqail said the new southern railway lines were part of a major project to link the Kingdom’s regions, residential areas, industrial cities, main seaports and the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah with a state-of-the-art railway network. Dar Al-Handasa for Designs and Technical Consultancy is conducting the study.
The SRO chief said experts were studying the financial offers made by the four qualified consortia to carry out the prestigious land bridge project linking the Kingdom’s east with its west, adding the winner of the $5 billion contract would be announced in early May.
The land bridge project includes construction of a 950-km line between Riyadh and Jeddah, as well as a 115 km link between the industrial city of Jubail and Dammam. It will boost Saudi Arabia’s economic, industrial and social development and change the region’s shipping pattern.
Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility leads one consortium with US firms KBR Inc, General Electric Co. and Al-Rajhi Bank. Saudi Binladin Group heads a group including Japan’s Mitsui & Co., India’s Ircon International, Germany’s Siemens, Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Bahn.
Rajhi Investment leads the consortium with Mada Company for Industrial & Commercial Investment, SNC-Lavalin of Canada and Samba Financial Group as members. The fourth consortium, led by Saudi family owned business Al-Muhaidib & Sons, includes South Korea’s Samsung Engineering & Construction and French bank BNP Paribas.
Al-Hoqail allayed public fears that the privatization of railway would increase the cost of transport. “We’ll privatize railway taking into consideration the interest of the public and their right to receive excellent service at reasonable prices. A railway authority has been established to monitor the quality of services and suitability of prices,” he explained.
In comments published yesterday, Al-Hoqail also said that SRO would be nullified and its assets and employees would be transferred to the winner of the land bridge project. He said the railway authority would supervise the companies operating the Kingdom’s railway.
Al-Hoqail said most train accidents in the Kingdom were caused by car and truck drivers who violate the rules for crossing railroads.
