The Saudi LAM Company recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to build a 3,000-kilometer railway line linking the east and west coasts of the Kingdom, reported Arab News. The total cost of the project is estimated at $2.7 billion.
LAM General Manager Saleh Mutabbakani said his company is in the process of setting up a financing mechanism for the project with a Bahrain-based consortium that includes European and American companies.
The construction of the new transportation link will be managed entirely by the private sector on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. Some 945 kilometers of rail will be added to the already existing 1,400 kilometer-line linking Riyadh and Dammam. The new addition will make travel accessible between central Saudi Arabia and Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.
The project is expected to bring down the cost of transportation, stimulate the mining sector and relieve Umrah traffic. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the Arabian Peninsula with a railway. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
