SAR North South Railway Line

SAR North South Railway Line Project
Saudi Railway Company
Overview
Type freight
Status under construction
Locale Al Jawf Region, Northern Borders Region, Ha'il Region, Al-Qassim Region, Riyadh Region and Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
Termini Al-Haditha
Riyadh
Stations 9
Services Riyadh, Sudair, Qassim, Hail, Ras Al-Khair, Jubail, Al-Jawf, Al-Basaita, and Al-Haditha.
Website http://www.sar.com.sa/
Operation
Owner Saudi Railway Company (SAR)
Operator(s) Saudi Railway Company (SAR)
Rolling stock 25 EMD SD70ACS Locomotives [1]
Technical
Line length 2,750 kilometres (1,708.8 mi)
Track length 2,750 kilometres (1,708.8 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Operating speed up to 100 km/h
Route map

The North South Railway Line is a 2,750 kilometres (1,709 mi) railway project by Saudi Railway Company (SAR) in Saudi Arabia. Trial operation on 1,392 kilometres (865 mi) long freight part of the project connecting Al-Haditha and Jalamid with new port city Ras Al-Khair was started in May 2011.[2] An 85 km link is planned which would connect the North-South railway with the port at Jubail.[3]

The project consists of two main railway lines. The first main line is starting from Riyadh towards the northwest of Saudi Arabian peninsular until the city of Al-Haditha near the border with Jordan. The line goes through Majma'a, Qassim, Hail and Al-Jouf along this north-south railway line. The second main line will start from Al-Jalamid mine which is located in the northeast in the Northern Territory, through Al-Jawf and Hail until arriving at the "AlBaithah railway junction" in the Qassim region. It then headed toward the southeast for processing and export facilities at Ras Al-Khair in the Eastern Province near Jubail.[4] The lines are built piecemeal, some lines are dedicated freight while others are mixed use, still others like SAR Riyadh-Qurayyat Line have a portion which is entirely passenger.

The first six of 25 EMD SD70ACS freight locomotives ordered in April 2009 were handed over to SAR at Port Dammam on 22 August 2010.[5]

Passenger diesel push-pull trains made by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles arrived in April 2015, and are designed to run at 200 km/h up to 55 degrees C.[6] Each of the SAR trains includes a restaurant car, family zone and a prayer compartment, as well as both seating and sleeping cars. They are expected to run in formations of nine and 13 cars.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. is Awarded New Locomotive Contract for 25 SD70ACS Locomotives from Saudi Railway Company (SAR)
  2. ↑ RailwayGazette: Phosphate trial marks completion of North-South line
  3. ↑ "World rail infrastructure market September 2012 - Railway Gazette". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Saudi Railway Company seeks operating concessionaire
  5. ↑ Desert locomotives delivered to Saudi Arabia
  6. 1 2 http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/passenger/single-view/view/sars-first-passenger-train-arrives.html
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