Contractors have submitted bids for the 65-kilometrer-long Riyadh Metro Line 7 that is expected to link Qiddiya and Diriyah. The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) received bids from contractors on 31 January. The scope entails the design and build of the railway line. It also involves constructing a metro line linking the Qiddiya entertainment city development and King Abdullah International Gardens. Moreover, it entails linking the King Salman Park, Misk City and Diriyah Gate. The total length of the line will be about 65 kilometers of which 47km will be underground and 19km will be elevated. The line will also have 19 stations, 14 of which will be built underground and five over ground. According to sources close to the project, the consortiums that were planning to bid for the contract include:

• Alstom (France) / WeBuild (Italy) / Nesma (local)
• Also include Siemens (Germany) / FCC (Spain) / Freysinnet Contracting (local) / Almabani (local)
• Furthermore, Hitachi Rail (Japan) / L&T (India) / Albawani (local) / Kalyon (Turkiye) / Cengiz (Turkiye) are in the bid
• CRRC (China) / Mapa (Turkiye) / Limak (Turkiye)

Saudi Arabia is also advancing the Jeddah Metro project as it issued a preliminary design consultancy tender. The tender issued is for the project’s Blue Line which was issued early January. Interested firms have been given until March to submit their proposals on the project.

Scope on the Riyadh Metro Line 7 Project

Other than the project consortium, there are also designers involved in the Riyadh Metro Line 7 project. Spanish consulting firms Typsa and Ayesa, along with US-based Aecom, are the design consultants for the Alstom-led consortium. On the other hand, Idom and South Korea’s Dowha are the designers for the Siemens-led team. Spanish engineering firm Sener and US-based Jacobs are the design consultants for the Hitachi Rail-led group. Furthermore, the consultants working on the scheme are France’s Egis and Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah. In June 2020, a joint venture led by French consultancy Systra won the preliminary design contract for the second phase of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Metro.

Riyadh Metro’s first phase features six lines with 84 stations. The RCRC completed the phased roll-out of the Riyadh Metro network when it started operating the Orange Line in January this year. Construction works have also started on the next phase of Riyadh Metro, which is the extension of its Line two network. Line 3, also known as the Orange Line, stretches from east to west, from Jeddah Road to the Second Eastern Ring Road, covering a total distance of 41km. The line spans 8.4 kilometres (km), of which 1.3km is elevated and 7.1km is underground. It also includes five stations, two elevated and three underground.

Project Factsheet

• Project: Riyadh Metro Line 7
• Client: Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC)
• Status: Bids submitted (31 January)

Scope: Design & build

• Route & Connectivity
• Total length: ~65 km
• Underground: 47 km
• Elevated: 19 km
• Stations: 19Underground: 14
• Elevated: 5

Key links:

• Qiddiya
• Diriyah Gate
• King Salman Park
• Misk City
• King Abdullah International Gardens

Bidding Consortiums

• Alstom (France) / WeBuild (Italy) / Nesma
• Siemens (Germany) / FCC (Spain) / Freyssinet / Almabani
• Hitachi Rail (Japan) / L&T (India) / Albawani / Kalyon / Cengiz

CRRC (China) / Mapa / Limak

Design Consultants

• Alstom-led: Typsa, Ayesa, Aecom
• Siemens-led: Idom, Dowha
• Hitachi-led: Sener, Jacobs
• Programme consultants: Egis, Dar Al-Handasah

Network Context

Riyadh Metro Phase I:

• 6 lines
• 84 stations

Latest milestone:

• Orange Line operational (January)

Next works:

• Line 2 extension under constructio