Dammam : The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) is working on a SR365 billion strategic plan for developing the railway network in the Kingdom and implementing several projects to interlink the country’s provinces by the year 2040.
The project aims to establish an integrated railway network spanning 9,900 km with 19 railway lines.
The Haramain high speed railway and a north-south line are under construction, with a line connecting Jeddah to Riyadh slated to begin soon. Work on the railway link between Gulf countries is also expected to begin soon. Muhammad Al-Suwaiket, SRO president, said that the organization is working on rectifying the poor performance of lines that run between Dammam and Al-Ahsa through Abqaiq through redeveloping internal departments.
“The organization seeks to maintain passenger safety and build a good reputation by implementing plans over the next 20 years to cover all major cities of the Kingdom,” said Al-Suwaiket. He said SRO would focus on laying the foundations for reconstructing the organization’s departments and formulate a new guideline. “We will review and redesign training programs for operating trains with the help of international, specialized institutions,” he said. “The huge GCC railway project will start from Kuwait and go through the Kingdom, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, ending in Oman,” he said. The line will span 2,200 km. He said SRO is currently designing parts of the projects within the Kingdom and that work on the project will begin in 2018.