DAMMAM, 4 March 2007 — The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) received recently seven Statements of Qualification (SOQ) for participation in the tender process for the Makkah-Madinah Rail Link project (MMRL).
The consortia which have submitted SOQ are composed of a number of leading Saudi and international companies with expertise in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of high speed railways.
International interest has been registered by companies from Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain and the UK, and includes some of the world’s leading providers of high speed technology.
“The high level of interest received to date reflects the attractiveness of the MMRL project and its potential for supporting the further development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the improvement of services provided to the visiting Haj and Umrah pilgrims,” SRO said in a statement. “We are currently evaluating the SOQ,” it added.
The MMRL project, part of the railway expansion program approved by the Kingdom’s Supreme Economic Council, will create a world-class high-speed passenger rail link between the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via the port city of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The project is to be implemented through private sector participation as a DBOT concession. It will be the first ever advanced high speed rail link in the region and is expected to have a profound impact on public transport in the western part of Saudi Arabia.
The project includes construction of approximately 450 km (280 miles) of new railway line between Makkah and Madinah, construction of two passenger stations in Makkah, two stations in Jeddah and one station in Madinah and operation of passenger services on the MMRL for the concession period.
A consortium comprising UBS Investment Bank, the National Commercial Bank and SNCF International has been retained by the SRO to provide financial and technical advisory services for the project. Linklaters, together with the law office of Abdulaziz H. Fahad, are providing legal advisory services.
