Riyadh Metro’s three lines to start operation in H1 2020, says official

Riyadh’s new six-line metro is set to open 3 lines by mid-2020, International Railway Journal reported citing Alwalid Alekrish, deputy CEO, programs and projects with Riyadh Development Authority.

The three lines will include Line 2, 3 and 4, while the remaining lines will be opened by end 2020. “We will open lines 2, 3 and 4 first, which is one line from each consortium. This is logical, because there is a lot of work to do. This will be just a few months before the remaining lines open. By the end of 2020 we will have launched the whole system,” Alekrish said.

He said that work is progressing as scheduled without delay, and 80 percent of the project has been completed. “The project is being delivered without major delays or budget overruns,” he said.

All the heavy construction has been completed and around 30 percent of the road detours have now been removed, he told International Railway Journal.

“Fitting out is going very well, and we are above 80 percent completion of the project,” Alekrish said, adding, “Almost all of the trains have been delivered. Test running has already started on lines 2, 3 and 4, and will begin soon on lines 1, 5 and 6. Our operators are on-board, and are recruiting staff and preparing for operation.”

The metro contracts were awarded in July 2013 to three international consortiums, with a total cost of $22.5 billion (SAR 84.4 billion).

The 176-km six-line fully-automated metro will serve 85 stations, when completed and will have a complimentary 1900-km bus network with around 3000 stops. Riyadh metro is forecast to carry around 1.2 million passengers per day initially with three-minute headways.

There will also be four main stations on the network – King Abdullah Financial District, Olaya, Qasr Al Hokom and Western – designed by world-renowned architects. The first three are metro interchanges, and all the four main stations will act as transport hubs where bus and metro services will be integrated.