MORE than 145 companies have submitted expressions of interest (EOI) for the Qiddiya high-speed rail public-private partnership (PPP) project in Saudi Arabia.
The EOI bidding process, which was launched on September 12 and closed on October 12, is being conducted by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), in partnership with the National Centre for Privatisation and PPP (NCP) and Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC).
EOI bids were received in six categories. There were bids from 68 lead infrastructure development contractors. Non-Saudi bidders include: Bouygues Travaux Publics, France; FCC Construcción, Spain; Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Korea; Larsen & Toubro Construction, India; Marubeni, Japan; Mota-Engil, Portugal; Webuild, Italy; and Yapı Merkezi, Turkey, as well as eight Chinese companies.
The 10 rolling stock and systems suppliers showing interest comprise: Alstom, CAF, Colas Rail, two divisions of CRRC, Hitachi Rail, Hyundai Rotem, Siemens Mobility, Stadler Rail and Talgo.
Twelve potential operators submitted EOIs including DB International, Italian State Railways (FS), Keolis, MTR Hong Kong, RATP, Renfe, Serco and Transdev.
EOIs were received from 16 equity investors, while 23 design and project management consultants submitted EOIs including Aecom, AtkinsRéalis, CH2M, Hill International, Italferr, Sener and Systra. EOIs were also received from 16 non-categorised companies.
The Qiddiya high speed line will run from Riyadh King Salman International Airport via King Abdullah Financial District in the centre of Riyadh to Qiddiya City, which will eventually have a population of 500,000. The line will have a maximum speed of 250km/h, and an end-to-end journey time of 30 minutes.
Riyadh Metro's proposed 65km Line 7 will also link Riyadh to Qiddiya City.
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