The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) () was a

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

railway company that operated part of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

's rail network, along with the Saudi Railway Company (now Saudi Arabia Railways). The SRO operated a network of railways with a total length of approximately 1,380 kilometers. The network consisted of two main lines. A 449 km passenger line that links

Dammam Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...

with Riyadh, and a 556 km freight line that connects the

King Abdul Aziz Port King Abdulaziz Port, also known as Dammam Port, is a port in the city of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It is the largest port in the Arabian Gulf, and the third largest and third busiest port in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, after the ...

in Dammam with Riyadh. There are plans to extend the network to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

port of

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

and, eventually to the borders of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, and perhaps all the way to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Approval to merge the Saudi Railways Organization and Saudi Railway Company was announced in February 2021, the merger took place on 1 April 2021 and the merged entity is known as the Saudi Arabia Railways. Rail transport map of Saudi Arabia

Rolling stock

Spanish manufacturer CAF delivered eight fast diesel locomotives in 2012, with one driving van trailer passenger car and four other passenger cars, with a leading power car unit; plus two spare power cars. They are used on the Dammam–Riyadh Line. During 2013 the travel time is 4:15 but there is a target of 3:00 for the future.

Trainsets

Diesel Locomotives

Expansion

The SRO has several plans to expand the network as part of the Saudi Railway Master Plan 2010-2040 (SRMP). Some of the projects under the plan are: * Saudi Landbridge: The Landbridge project is aimed at connecting the Red Sea with the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. It will involve the construction of a 950 km line from Jeddah Islamic Port to Riyadh, and a 115 km line from Dammam to Jubail. * North-South line * The Gulf Railway project is a propose railway network of 2116 km linking all GCC countries. The length of the track inside Saudi Arabia would be 663 km. * The SRO also has plans to construct three lines in southern Saudi Arabia to improve the region's connectivity with the rest of the country. The lines are the Taif-Khamis Mushayt–Abha line (706 km), the Jeddah-Jizan line (660 km), and the Yanbu–Jeddah line (350 km).

References

Al Ayuni Investment and Contracting Company,Saudi Railway CTW400 Project Main Contractor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi Railways Organization 1951 establishments in Saudi Arabia 2021 disestablishments in Saudi Arabia Organizations established in 1951 Government agencies of Saudi Arabia Companies based in Dammam Government-owned railway companies

Rolling stock

Trainsets

Diesel Locomotives

Expansion

See also

References