GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS

RIYADH: A Saudi-Spanish consortium has emerged as a frontrunner among bidders to win an $8 billion contract to build a high-speed rail network linking Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah.

“The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) has already invited the consortium to its headquarters in Dammam to discuss the technical details of the rail network next month,” said Spanish Ambassador Pablo Bravo in Riyadh on Tuesday.

Bravo said the SRO had sent a letter to the local Al-Shoula Group and the Spanish companies of the consortium inviting them to hold a meeting to talk about the 450 km project.

Arab News called the SRO officials on Tuesday to verify an AFP report claiming the Spanish consortium had won the contract, but there was no answer.

France’s Alstom and its national railway operator SNCF is another bidder in the project. The Al-Shoula consortium includes the local Al-Rosan and about eight Spanish companies, including Copasa, Imathia, Cobra, OHL, Dimetronic, Inabensa, Indra, Talgo and Renfe.

The SRO announced earlier that only two consortia, the French-Saudi Al-Rajhi Alliance and the Spanish-led Al-Shoula consortium, had submitted their technical and financial offers.

Asked about the possibility of Spanish and Saudi consortium winning the contract, Ambassador Bravo said: “The Spanish railway technology offered to Saudi Arabia has been largely appreciated.”

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The railway is expected to carry 3 million passengers a year, including Haj and Umrah pilgrims. This will also help to relieve traffic congestion on the roads. The Haramain High Speed Rail project is also known as the “Western Railway”.

Spain has had a long experience in railway sector with its first railway line built between Barcelona and Mataró way back in 1848.

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