Tunnelling begins on landmark Riyadh Metro project

Listen to this article

Tunnelling has started in the Saudi capital Riyadh on the largest new build metro construction projects in the world.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Governor of Riyadh, launched the first of two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) which will be used to build the Green line on April 30.

A total of seven TBMs will be used to construct the six-line metros tunnel network.

Dhafrah, which means victory in Arabic, will construct 12.9 kilometres of tunnel, connecting Riyadh Airbase with the King Abdul Aziz Historical Centre.

Riyadh Metro is expected to open to passengers in 2018 – reaching for 176 kilometres around the city.

The FAST consortium is designing and constructing three of the six automated metro lines being built in Saudi Arabia’s capital.

Around €16.3 billion is being spent on the city’s new metro system.

The FAST consortium, which is delivering lines 4 (Yellow), 5 (Green) and 6 (Purple) includes Samsung, Alstom, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa, Atkins, and Setec.

Jaime Freyre de Andrade Calonge, FAST project director, said: “On March 19 of this year, FAST Consortium also placed the first 475-ton concrete girder into its permanent elevated position – another first for Riyadh Metro.

“These are important early steps in our journey toward delivering a world-class metro to the people of Riyadh. ”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Rail News

ORR review leads to 50% reduction in maximum fees for ticket refunds

New rules will mean that from 2 April the maximum fee that train operators and ticket retailers can charge...

More like this...