One of Saudi Arabia’s major infrastructure projects, the Saudi Land Bridge project, which aims to connect the capital city of Riyadh to the strategic King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea, has reached a significant stage. Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) has given new momentum to the project’s progress by announcing a tender for consultancy services for this critical project. The visionary project, worth approximately US$7 billion, involves the construction of a total of 1500 kilometers of new railway lines, and the work will be carried out in six separate phases.
Key Phases of the Saudi Land Bridge Project
The first phase of the project involves developing the railway infrastructure of Jubail, one of the country’s major industrial centers, and 10 kilometers of new track is planned to be laid. The next phase will modernize the existing Jubail-Dammam line, which will be supplemented with 35 kilometers of new track. In the following two phases of the project, the Riyadh-Dammam line, one of the busiest railway lines in the country, will be comprehensively updated, and a new 87-kilometer line will be built. In addition, a bypass line will be established to ease rail traffic in the capital Riyadh. The bypass line will consist of two separate sections, 67 and 35 kilometers long. The largest leg of the project will be the 950-kilometer main line connecting Riyadh to the Red Sea city of Jeddah. This main line will then extend 146 kilometers to reach King Abdullah Port.
Logistics Infrastructure is Strengthening: Contribution to the Regional Economy
The sixth and final phase of the Saudi Land Bridge project is planned to build a 172-kilometer branch line from King Abdullah Port to Yanbu, an important industrial city in the north. However, the project is not limited to railway lines. The project also envisages the construction of a total of seven modern logistics centers in important cities and ports along the route. These strategic logistics centers will contribute significantly to the development of the regional economy and the facilitation of trade by providing seamless connections between different modes of transportation.
The Saudi Land Bridge project was first discussed in 2004, but work was halted in 2010 for various reasons. The project, which was restarted in 2011, faced obstacles such as legal challenges and high costs. However, in 2018, Saudi Arabian Railways (SAR) signed an important memorandum of understanding with the Saudi-China Land Bridge consortium, which gave new momentum to the project. This new announced consultancy services tender will allow Chinese companies as well as other international companies to participate in the project. After a final agreement on financing is reached, tenders for the construction of the project are expected to be announced in mid-2026. Once this massive project is completed, Saudi Arabia’s logistics infrastructure will be significantly strengthened and the country will rise to a much more strategic position in regional trade.
