Riyadh to be connected to five cities by train service

A train will connect Riyadh with five cities by 2014, with a capacity of more than two million passengers and a maximum speed of 200 kph, local media reported.
The five cities are Al-Mujamma’, Qasim, Hail, Jouf and Al-Quryyat. The project will include nine cargo stations in Riyadh, Sadeer Industrial City, Qasim, Prince Majed Economic city in Hail, Jouf, Al-Haditha, Al-Busiyta’, Ras Alkhair and Jubail.
Sulaiman Khwaiter, head of Marketing and Public Relations at the Saudi Railway Company, said that five design blueprints have been signed to build modern passenger and cargo trains, a long-awaited project for Saudi citizens.
The railway network is projected to span 2,750 km and include two main tracks. “The first track will be dedicated to transferring phosphate and other raw materials. It will be 1,400 km long”, said Khwaiter, adding that SAR trains will transfer phosphate to processing plants at Ras Alkhair with 150 mining carriages, each of the trains being 2.8 km long.
The second track will be dedicated to the movement of passengers and other cargo freights. “This track will extend from Riyadh, passing through Al-Mujamma’, Qasim, Hail, Jouf and Al-Quryyat, all the way to the Saudi-Jordanian border at the “Al-Haditha outlet”, with an extra sub-branch at the agricultural city of Al-Busiyta.