A French consulting firm has landed an 8-million-riyal (about $2.1 million) contract to carry out preliminary studies for an electric rail system in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's official news agency SPA reported on 14 August 2004.
The 14-month contract was awarded jointly to Semaly of France and regional engineering group Dar al-Handasah. The work will evaluate social, economic, and environmental conditions in the capital, as well as identify suitable corridors for laying track through the city.
The Riyadh project is part of a broader, multibillion-dollar Saudi push to expand rail links across the kingdom. A planned 950-kilometer loop would connect Riyadh to the Red Sea port of Jeddah while joining existing track to the Gulf oil hub of Dammam, potentially cutting container transit time by roughly a week compared with sea shipping.
Additional lines under consideration include a 115-kilometer route linking Dammam, its international airport, and the industrial port of Jubail, and a 570-kilometer corridor connecting Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, and the industrial city of Yanbu, intended in part to ease movement of the roughly two million pilgrims who travel to Muslim holy sites each year.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.