Saudi Arabia Trains

Saudi Arabia Trains

Saudi Arabia Rail History and Overview

The first railway line in the kingdom predates the unification of Saudi Arabia. The 1,050 mm (3 ft 511⁄32 in) narrow-gauge Hejaz railway, that ran from Damascus to Medina, began construction in 1900 under the Ottoman Hejaz Vilayet, and was completed in 1908. A proposal to further extend the line to Mecca was made, but was never materialized. The southern portion of the line was mostly destroyed during the First World War. A few sections of the track remain, with some sections in Jordan being used up to today. The stations in Mada'in Salih and Medina have been converted into museums (Hejaz railway Museum and Mada'in Salih Railway Station), each having some locomotives and rolling stock from the original railway.

The first railway line built and completed under Saudi rule was the 569 km (354 mi) Dammam-Riyadh line, which began construction in 1947. It was inaugurated on October 20, 1951, by King Abdulaziz. This was before the formation of the Saudi Railways Organization, and the railway line was run and maintained by Saudi Aramco, before being entrusted to the Ministry of Finance. On May 13, 1966, a royal decree established the SRO, a public corporation that now runs the line. The main railway stations for passengers opened in Riyadh, Dammam, and Hofuf in 1981. The modern passenger line between Riyadh and Dammam measuring 449 km (279 mi) was completed in 1985.

The other conventional railway line in the kingdom is the North–South line, also known as the SAR Riyadh-Qurayyat line, which runs from the capital Riyadh to border with Jordan at Hadithah via Buraidah, Ha'il and Qurayyat, with feeder lines to multiple phosphate mining and bauxite mining locations in the northern parts of the kingdom. The largest feeder line connects the main line to the port city of Ra's Al-Khair, near Jubail, giving the line a total length of more than 2,750 km (1,710 mi). The only high-speed railway line in the kingdom, the Haramain high-speed railway line, was completed in 2017, and connects the two Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina via the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City near Rabigh.

Rail Transport in Saudi Arabia Detail

The historic 1,300 km (810 mi) 1,035 mm (3 ft 511⁄32 in) narrow-gauge Ottoman Hejaz railway was mostly destroyed during the First World War and its stations in Mada'in Salih and Medina have been converted to museums. Within two decades of the unification of Saudi Arabia, the first Dammam–Riyadh Line was completed in 1951, and was 569 km (354 mi) long. This line was later converted to only be used for freight transport, with a new, shorter, 449 km (279 mi) line being completed in 1985, exclusively for the transport of passengers. The other passenger line in the kingdom is the SAR Riyadh-Qurayyat line, which runs through the middle of the country connecting the capital Riyadh to Ha'il, Majma'ah, the Al Jawf Province and Jordan via Qurayyat. It is the longest line in the Saudi rail network, and with a feeder line connecting it to the port of Ra's al-Khair, its total length comes up to around 2,750 km (1,710 mi). The North–South Railway line uses portions of the Riyadh–Qurayyat line and connects the main line to phosphate and bauxite mining locations in the northern reaches of the kingdom.

Apart from mass transit systems such as metros, the only high-speed railway line in the kingdom is the Haramain high-speed railway line, construction of which was completed in 2017. The line is 453 km (281 mi) long and connects the two Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina via the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Abdullah Economic City.