SAUDI ARABIA: Test running started on the Riyadh metro on April 4 using an Alstom Metropolis trainset.
The six-line network is due to open next year. Work is being undertaken in three packages.
Lines 1 and 2 are being designed and built by the BACS consortium led by Bechtel and including Almabani General Contractors, Consolidated Contractors Company and Siemens under a US$9·45bn contract. Siemens is supplying 45 four-car trainsets for Line 1 and 29 two-car sets for Line 2 from its Wien plant in Austria.
ArRiyadh New Mobility is designing and building Line 3 under a US$5·21bn contract. The consortium comprises two groups: the Electrical Work Group comprising Ansaldo STS and Bombardier Transportation, and the Civil Work Group of Salini-Impregilo, Larsen & Toubro and Nesma. Bombardier Transportation is supplying 47 two-car sets from its Sahagún plant in Mexico.
The FAST consortium led by FCC and including Samsung C&T, Alstom, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa and Setec is to build lines 4, 5 and 6 for US$7·82bn. Alstom is supplying 69 two-car driverless trainsets from its Katowice factory in Poland.
Project promoter Arriyadh Development Authority expects to award naming rights contracts for 15 stations in the next few months.
