ABU DHABI: Saudi Arabia is expected to award contracts for construction of the planned 115km rail link between its industrial city of Jubail and Dammam before the end of 2012, a senior Saudi Railway Company (SAR) official said yesterday.
“Bids were received and they are under evaluation. The project will be awarded before the end of the year,” Bashar Almalik, SAR’s director of civil and track works, told a rail conference in the United Arab Emirates capital. He did not give the financial value of the contracts.
The world’s top oil exporter, which is spending billions of dollars to boost its infrastructure, is building several rail systems.
The longest one will be 2,750km, running from the capital Riyadh to near the northern border with Jordan. “Most of the network has been completed in terms of construction.
In May, Saudi Arabia started initial operations on a 1,400km mineral line, linking phosphate mines at al-Jalamaid and a bauxite mine at Az-Zabirah to processing facilities at the industrial hub of Ras Azzour on the Gulf coast.
Reuters
