Saudi Arabia plans to expand freight, passenger rail network

Saudi Arabia is working on expanding its passenger and freight services across the Kingdom in order to become a global logistics hub, Arab News reported, citing transport minister Nabeel bin Mohammed Al-Amoudi.

“The railway sector is witnessing qualitative growth with an added focus on freight. Conditions have been put in place for rail freight to unleash its enormous potential and increase its attractiveness to customers," he said.

“We have expansion plans and some master plans to be executed within next few years. We are looking at the Saudi Land Bridge Project, which will connect Riyadh with Jeddah,” the minister noted.

Meanwhile, state-owned Saudi Railway Company is working to expand the reach of its passenger rail network, the newspaper quoted chief executive Bashar Khaled Almali as saying.

“We have several projects under construction including a connection to Jubail Industrial City and another to Ras Al-Khair, where we have gone up to the northern borders.

“We are also looking to build the connection between the two networks here in Riyadh and move on, depending on the demands and the needs of our customers,” he added.