Company Insights Saudi Arabia Railways Transport Saudi Arabia Railways Overview The national railway company of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) is fully owned by the Public Investment Fund and operates as a state-owned enterprise. SAR was created to develop, manage and operate Saudi Arabia’s north-south railway project. In April 2021, it merged with the Saudi Railways Organisation, consolidating the kingdom’s railway operations under one entity. SAR manages key railway lines, including the Haramain High Speed Railway (connecting Medina, Jeddah and Mecca), the Dammam-Riyadh line and the Riyadh-Qurayyat line (extending to Jordan). SAR’s core business ventures include freight transport (minerals, petroleum, petrochemicals and containers) and passenger services. Key projects under way include the Landbridge, a $7 billion initiative linking the east and west of Saudi Arabia, and a $690 million contract with Swiss rolling stock company Stadler for 10 “next-generation” passenger trains. Saudi Arabia Railways News Tourism Luxury travel is the engine of Saudi’s tourism market Saudi Arabia has focused on high-end tourism to create a name for itself, but will need to cater to the broader market in the longer term February 16, 2025 Tech $5bn Neom data centre latest deal announced at Leap Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion futuristic giga-project Neom has signed a $5 billion deal to develop what it claims will be the world’s first fully sustainable data centre. The agreement was signed with the Saudi IT and technology company DataVolt. The data centre will be located at Oxagon, with the first phase having a capacity of […] February 11, 2025 Transport Saudi railway network to reach 8,000km, says minister Saudi Arabia will look to expand its railway network by around 45 percent in the coming years, the transport minister told a conference in Riyadh. “The kingdom is set to experience unprecedented growth in its rail network, expanding to over 8,000km in the coming years,” Saleh Al Jasser, minister of transport and Saudi Arabia Railways […] November 22, 2024 Infrastructure Driverless monorail planned for Riyadh’s financial district An agreement to launch a driverless monorail project has been signed by King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The 3.6-kilometre system will have six trains travelling on an elevated circular track that will wind between the main towers of the district. The system will have six stations across the district, connecting […] November 1, 2024 Transport Financing being finalised for Riyadh-Jeddah railway line Saudi Arabia Railways hopes to finalise financing for its “Landbridge” project linking the east and west of the country within months, an official said this week. “It will cost at least $7 billion, it depends on the budget. If the budget’s available then we will start building, it will be finished before 2030,” Mesfer Alyami, […] October 15, 2024 Transport Passenger numbers on Saudi trains leap 23% in a year Passenger traffic on Saudi railways rose 23 percent year on year to 2.7 million people in the first quarter of 2024, the state operator said this week, as the kingdom pushes to improve infrastructure before a 2030 deadline. The railway system also saw a 9 percent rise in the volume of minerals and goods transported, […] May 2, 2024 Transport Saudi Arabia signs $690m passenger train order Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has signed a $690.16 million contract with Stadler, a Swiss rail infrastructure and train manufacturer, for 10 “next-generation” passenger trains for its growing railway network. The state-owned rail network operator can order an additional 10 units in the future, state-run SPA news agency reported. Trains will be 175 metres long, self-propelled […] February 7, 2024 Transport Alstom agrees $550m deal for Saudi battery tram The French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom has signed a contract worth more than €500 million ($547 million) to build a battery-powered tram system in the Saudi tourist destination AlUla. The company’s deal with the Royal Commission for AlUla will result in the world’s longest tram system without an overhead electrical line. The system will have […] January 8, 2024 SPECIAL REPORT Infrastructure After stops and starts, GCC rail is back on 2030 timetable In the same week that Dubai announced a 30km extension of its metro network, Kuwait revealed that its $20 billion four-line metro project is to be cancelled. If anything sums up the difficulties associated with connecting the GCC countries by rail, then it is this. Kuwait’s metro hit the buffers as a result of “significant […] December 5, 2023 Trade Saudi and France to ‘unleash potential’ after $2.9bn deals Saudi Arabia and France will work together to “unleash the full potential” of their trade relationship as they look beyond traditional sectors such as energy. That was the message from Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih at the conclusion of the French-Saudi Investment Forum. Last year, French-Saudi trade volumes increased by more than 80 percent to […] June 21, 2023 Posts navigation 1 2 Next
Tourism Luxury travel is the engine of Saudi’s tourism market Saudi Arabia has focused on high-end tourism to create a name for itself, but will need to cater to the broader market in the longer term February 16, 2025
Tech $5bn Neom data centre latest deal announced at Leap Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion futuristic giga-project Neom has signed a $5 billion deal to develop what it claims will be the world’s first fully sustainable data centre. The agreement was signed with the Saudi IT and technology company DataVolt. The data centre will be located at Oxagon, with the first phase having a capacity of […] February 11, 2025
Transport Saudi railway network to reach 8,000km, says minister Saudi Arabia will look to expand its railway network by around 45 percent in the coming years, the transport minister told a conference in Riyadh. “The kingdom is set to experience unprecedented growth in its rail network, expanding to over 8,000km in the coming years,” Saleh Al Jasser, minister of transport and Saudi Arabia Railways […] November 22, 2024
Infrastructure Driverless monorail planned for Riyadh’s financial district An agreement to launch a driverless monorail project has been signed by King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The 3.6-kilometre system will have six trains travelling on an elevated circular track that will wind between the main towers of the district. The system will have six stations across the district, connecting […] November 1, 2024
Transport Financing being finalised for Riyadh-Jeddah railway line Saudi Arabia Railways hopes to finalise financing for its “Landbridge” project linking the east and west of the country within months, an official said this week. “It will cost at least $7 billion, it depends on the budget. If the budget’s available then we will start building, it will be finished before 2030,” Mesfer Alyami, […] October 15, 2024
Transport Passenger numbers on Saudi trains leap 23% in a year Passenger traffic on Saudi railways rose 23 percent year on year to 2.7 million people in the first quarter of 2024, the state operator said this week, as the kingdom pushes to improve infrastructure before a 2030 deadline. The railway system also saw a 9 percent rise in the volume of minerals and goods transported, […] May 2, 2024
Transport Saudi Arabia signs $690m passenger train order Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has signed a $690.16 million contract with Stadler, a Swiss rail infrastructure and train manufacturer, for 10 “next-generation” passenger trains for its growing railway network. The state-owned rail network operator can order an additional 10 units in the future, state-run SPA news agency reported. Trains will be 175 metres long, self-propelled […] February 7, 2024
Transport Alstom agrees $550m deal for Saudi battery tram The French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom has signed a contract worth more than €500 million ($547 million) to build a battery-powered tram system in the Saudi tourist destination AlUla. The company’s deal with the Royal Commission for AlUla will result in the world’s longest tram system without an overhead electrical line. The system will have […] January 8, 2024
SPECIAL REPORT Infrastructure After stops and starts, GCC rail is back on 2030 timetable In the same week that Dubai announced a 30km extension of its metro network, Kuwait revealed that its $20 billion four-line metro project is to be cancelled. If anything sums up the difficulties associated with connecting the GCC countries by rail, then it is this. Kuwait’s metro hit the buffers as a result of “significant […] December 5, 2023
Trade Saudi and France to ‘unleash potential’ after $2.9bn deals Saudi Arabia and France will work together to “unleash the full potential” of their trade relationship as they look beyond traditional sectors such as energy. That was the message from Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih at the conclusion of the French-Saudi Investment Forum. Last year, French-Saudi trade volumes increased by more than 80 percent to […] June 21, 2023
