SAUDI Railway Company (SAR) inaugurated its first passenger services on February 26 on the Riyadh - Al Qassim section of the North-South Railway with an intermediate stop at Majmaah.

An agreement was ratified last month between Saudi Arabia and the Al Shoula consortium responsible for equipping and operating the Haramain high-speed line for a phased opening. IRJ’s Spanish regional editor Ferran Torga explains why the opening is later than envisaged and the challenges the world’s first desert high-speed railway will face.

ONE of the first Alstom Metropolis driverless metro trains for Riyadh Metro was presented to representatives of Arriyadh Development Authority and the international media at Alstom's plant in Katowice on February 7.

ITALIAN contractor Salini Impregilo announced on February 3 that it has completed tunnel excavation work on Line 3 of the Riyadh Metro project.

A new opening date for the Haramain high-speed project, announced last November, was ratified on January 16 during a visit to Saudi Arabia by a Spanish delegation led by Spain’s King Felipe VI when Saudi authorities agreed to extend the delivery deadline by 14 months until March 2018 and to acknowledge €150m in cost overruns.

SAUDI Railway Company (SAR) has started to take delivery of 1186 tank wagons for the transport of sulphur and phosphoric acid for operation of the 2750km North-South Railway.

THE governor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Bandar says that passenger services on the southern section of Saudi Railway Company’s (SAR) North-South Railway from Riyadh to Al-Mujamma'ah will begin at the start of 2017.

IRJ at InnoTrans 2016: SIEMENS presented the first driverless Inspiro metro train for Riyadh metro Line 1 (Blue Line) to representatives of Arriyadh Development Authority (ARA) at InnoTrans on September 20.

TEST running has started on part of Saudi Railway Company’s (SAR) 2750km North-South Railway in preparation for the launch of passenger services on the southern section from Riyadh to Qassim at the end of the year.