Saudi Railways seek private investment

RIYADH: The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) is planning to connect all the regions of the country with a railway network spanning 2,750 km.

Rumaih bin Muhammad Al-Rumaih, chief executive officer of the SRO, said that the north to south line would be over 1,242 km across six stations. He disclosed this information at a recent meeting with members of the Council of Saudi Chambers’ (CSC) national industrial committee.
This was in response to committee members raising several concerns at the meeting including linking of industrial cities to remote areas of the country and for the government to provide more support for local businesses.
Saad Al-Muajjal, head of the committee, said cooperation was needed between the SRO and businesses to ensure that the economy grows. “The sector needs support to strengthen its competitiveness,” he said.
Al-Rumaih said that the SRO wants partnerships with investors. He said the SRO’s projects are planned by the Ministry of Transport, which is tasked with improving the rail network to help grow the economy.
In addition to a passenger network, he said work began in 2011 on the first phase of the train lines for the mining industry. There is currently a line running from the Al-Jalameed area through Qassim over 1,400 km transporting 30,000 tons of minerals a day to export processing facilities in Ras Al-Khair on the Arabian Gulf coast.
Al-Rumaih said it was possible that the SRO, a state-owned company, may go public at some stage.