SAUDI Arabia Railways (SAR) has issued a tender for lead design consultancy services for the long-awaited Landbridge project.
The contract will cover the concept design and options for the preliminary and Issued for Construction (IFC) design stages of the project, which aims to provide a direct link from Jubail Industrial City on the Arabian Gulf to King Abdullah Port and Yanbu Industrial City on the Red Sea, north of Jeddah, via the Saudi capital Riyadh. The deadline for bids is May 15.
The centrepiece of the estimated $US 7bn project is the construction of new 950km railway between Riyadh and Jeddah. The Landbridge project will also involve approximately 600km of additional new construction and upgrades to existing lines. A consortium of Italy’s Italferr, Sener, Spain, and Hill International were selected as the preferred bidders for a project management services contract in December 2023.
The Saudi China Landbridge Consortium (SLCC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to implement the project under a public-private partnership (PPP) in October 2018. However, with SAR issuing the tender directly, the Middle East Economic Digest (Meed) suggests that the Saudi government is considering other options alongside the Chinese proposal to develop the Landbridge.
In a separate tender, SAR is seeking contractors to build a new freight terminal and railway from Damman’s Second Industrial City to the existing 559km Damman - Riyadh line.
The project is expected to take three years to complete and is estimated to cost Riyals 720m ($US 192m). The project will support SAR’s objective to boost rail freight capacity on its network.
The Landbridge project
Construction will be split into six sections.
The first section comprises the upgrade of the Jubail Industrial City internal network, which is currently under construction, and will require the construction of 10km of new track.
The second is the upgrade of the existing Jubail - Dammam line, which is also currently under construction and will require 35km of new track construction.
The third section will involve an upgrade of the Dammam - Riyadh line, which includes the construction of 87km of new track.
The fourth section, the Riyadh bypass, will connect the existing network in the north of the city to the south. It is split into two packages: the first has 67km of track and the second has 35km.
The fifth section is a new 950km link from Riyadh to Jeddah, which will continue for 146km to King Abdullah Port. The Riyadh - Jeddah section will have three intermediate stations at Jamuma, Moya and Al-Doadmi.
The sixth section is the new 172km line from King Abdullah Port to Yanbu Industrial City. The project will also include the construction of seven logistics centres at Jubail Industrial City Logistics Centre, Damman Logistics Dry Port, a relocated Riyadh Dry Port, King Khalid Airport Logistics Centre in Riyadh, Jeddah Logistics Dry Port, King Abdullah Port Logistics Centre and Yanbu Industrial City Logistics Centre.
Plans to develop the Saudi Landbridge project were originally announced in 2004 and were revived in 2011, with progress relatively slow since then. Nevertheless, it is one of Saudi Arabia’s most eagerly-awaited infrastructure projects, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud confirming the government’s commitment to the scheme in June 2021, when he launched the National Transport and Logistics Strategy.
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