DAMMAM, 25 January 2004 — The Saudi Railway Organization (SRO) has registered a big increase in income from passenger revenue as well as a steady rise in numbers of passengers traveling between Dammam, Riyadh and Ahsa. Khaled Jabran Al-Qahtani, Manager of Passenger Services told Arab News that compared to previous year, SRO’s income had increased to SR29.26 million which represents an increase of 27 percent.
He said that a similar increase had occurred in passenger movement between Riyadh, Dammam and Ahsa. Last year a total of 912,828 passengers traveled between these stations — 200,000 more than the previous year and an increase of 28 percent.
Although SRO did not publish figures for cargo transportation, the transport industry says that in the past few years, cargo movement from King Abdul Aziz Seaport to Riyadh Dry Port has increased considerably.
In fact, it was cargo movement that motivated the railway authorities to expedite the Arabian Gulf-Red Sea project linking Dammam to Jeddah and Yanbu and covering nearly 3,200 Kms. Makkah and Madinah will also be linked to the line for passenger services; the project has moved from planning to execution stage.
At the 16th meeting of the Directors General of the Middle East Railway recently in Dammam, there was a recommendation to renew the rail link between Madinah and Damascus.
Those attending said that once the Kingdom connected the Arabian Gulf with the Red Sea, the job of connecting Saudi Arabia with other GCC countries would be easier.
