Railway to cost Saudi gov't US$5.33bn

The cost of construction for the railway project that will connect the North and South of Saudi Arabia is estimated to be around US$5.33bn, the chairman of Saudi Railway Company (SAR) said on Thursday. However, this cost will not include the compensations that will be paid for real estate expropriations, Mansour Al Maiman warned. Speaking at the contract signing of a US$147.4m deal with Spain’s Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), Al Maiman said that he expected the passenger train sets to be delivered within 24 months. Under the terms of the contract, CAF will be required to manufacture five passenger train sets for SAR, the paper said. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabian Railway signed three contracts worth $624m with the Saudi Arabian Finance Ministry. The deals would see the implementation of a number of projects related to the North-South Railway. Beginning from Riyadh, the 2,750km railway will connect the Saudi Arabian capital with the northern town of Hudaitha, passing by Sudair, Qassim, Hail and Al Jouf. It also links the phosphate and bauxite mines in Jelamaid and Baitha, with industrial plants in Ras Al Khair, Jubail and Dammam.