General Transport Authority Commemorate 70th anniversary of Railways

Among the most important qualitative shifts in the transport and logistics sector, in the Kingdom, was when the founding King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud laid the foundation stone for the first railway to connects Dammam with the Riyadh, in October 1951, with a length of 569 km, unleashing the rail transport industry, in the region 70 years, ago.

In light of the growth, expansion and great leaps that our country is experiencing today under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH Crown Prince, the Kingdom tops the list of the most important railway infrastructure projects, in the region, as the railways started with 569 kilometers.

However today, the total length of railways is more than 4,500 km, and more than two million passengers are transported annually, and this is in line with the objectives of the national strategy for transport and logistics, which includes activating the most important models and adopting innovations, in the field of rail and high-speed rail transportation technologies, as well as “Hyperloop” technology.

The Public Transport Authority, through a consortium of the most important major Chinese companies, is to implement one of the leading national projects, in the Kingdom, which is the land bridge project, as it will connect the east and west of the Kingdom via a 1,300-kilometre length railway, passing through vital areas, expanding the public transport network to serve villages and cities, and enhancing the interconnection of logistical areas.

The railway transport services were present in the service of the pilgrims by facilitating and easing transportation trips for them, by the Al-Haramain Express train, the Al-Mashaer train and providing them according to the best international standards, as the Al-Haramain train is one of the fastest electric trains, in the world, and on this 70th anniversary, railway transportation services will continue to progress, in terms of growth and integration with the rest of the other services to contribute to improving the quality of life and achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.