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Dammam–Riyadh line
Rail line in Eastern Province and Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Dammam–Riyadh line is a passenger railway line in Saudi Arabia, linking the Eastern Province's capital city of Dammam with the Saudi capital Riyadh. The 449 km (279 mi) line has four stations. It is owned and operated by Saudi Arabia Railways.
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History
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Planning for the line started in 1947 with an agreement between King Ibn Saud and ARAMCO (the Arabian-American Oil Company, now Saudi Aramco) to lay a 547 km (340 mi) freight line. Bechtel Construction Company was chosen to build the rail line and a sea port at the eastern end of the line at Dammam, with construction beginning in September 1947. In 1948, veteran American railroad engineer James H. Gildea was hired to oversee the project. The biggest obstacle to building the rail line was the Persian Gulf shallows at Dammam. To allow deep draft vessels to unload, a rail causeway of approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) was built out into the Persian Gulf. The first 5 miles (8.0 km) were a rock causeway and the last couple of miles a section made of a steel trestle. One of the first vessels to unload was a Dutch freighter, in 1950, with a load of rails for construction of the line. The first trains started moving between Dammam and Riyadh in 1953 and a passenger service was introduced in 1981.[1]
Upgrade
In 2011, it was announced that, as part of a 30-year master plan, there would be upgrades to the line to replace level crossings with grade separations,[2] and to bypass of the centre city of Hofuf.[3] This would allow trains to reach 200 km/h (124 mph).
In 2014, the SRO awarded a contract worth US$1.6 million to a consortium led by Spanish firm Consultrans to study alignments for a high-speed line linking Riyadh and Dammam.[4]
In December 2015, the SRO President stated that the speed of trains on the line would be raised from 140 to 160 km/h (87 to 99 mph) before the end of the year, and would further be increased to 180 km/h (112 mph) in 2016.[5] On 7 December 2015, SRO began operating passenger services on the line using new CAF push-pull trainsets which operate at 180 km/h (112 mph). The trains entered service as the SRO completed double-tracking of the entire 449 km (279 mi) line.[6]
Derailment
On 17 February 2017 at about 1:00 am, a train on the line derailed near Dammam, injuring 18 people. The derailment happened after flooding from torrential rains caused the ground under the rail line to erode. The train was carrying 193 passengers and six crew members. SRO stated that all injuries were minor. All passengers were transferred to another train and transported to Dammam station.[7] The line was closed for repair following the accident, and SRO suspended all rail services to Dammam. Services were only operated between Riyadh and Hofuf.[8] Full service was resumed on 23 February 2017.
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Stations
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The stations at Dammam, Hufuf and Riyadh were designed and built by Lucio Barbera between 1978 and 1980. They were opened for public service in 1981. The terminus stations in Dammam and Riyadh are extremely similar and consist of a rectangular hall of three naves separated by two lines of pillars along the ends of the tracks, and two wings at the ends of the main hall along the outer tracks. The design is based on the layout of some mosques along the Mediterranean Sea, where the prayer hall is located at one side of a court with lesser wings along the sides of the court.[9] The style and decoration of the buildings uses elements such as triangular openings to construct windows, arcades, and parapets with rectangular steps,[10] elements bearing a resemblance to Nejd architecture but also common in other Arab architecture. The station building in Hufuf lies to the east of the through-line along one side. The decoration is very similar to the stations in Dammam and Riyadh.
There are four stations on the Dammam–Riyadh line:
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Infrastructure
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Rolling stock
The Dammam-Riyadh line uses several different types of locomotives and rolling stock, mostly as the result of the circumstances of its construction. The line used many kinds of locomotives and passenger cars that were bought from the US' railroads in its early years, however as time progressed the SRO began to buy its own locomotives (mainly from Electro-Motive Diesel) and passenger cars. Passenger trains were hauled by locomotives from the start of passenger services in 1981 until the introduction of the CAF push-pull trainsets in 2015.[citation needed]
In August 2022, Saudi Arabia Railways launched a call for tenders for ten diesel passenger trainsets in order to increase capacity on the line.[11] On the 5th of February 2024, SAR officially signed a contract with Stadler Rail for the supply of the ten trainsets,[12][13] with an additional option for ten more being offered.[14] The trains will be based on Stadler's existing SMILE design.[14]
Tracks
The line uses type C.W.R UIC 60 rails.[35]
Signaling system
In 2007, the SRO contracted a consortium made up of Siemens Transportation Systems and the Saudi Arabian Nour Communications Company to modernize both the Dammam–Riyadh line and the cargo line of SRO rail network. The line was equipped with signaling technology including an electronic interlocking and Trainguard 100 for ETCS Level 1. GSM-Railway (GSM-R) mobile radio technology was also installed for communication use on the entire rail network.[36]
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Operations
The total journey time is about 4.5 hours.[37] From 1 June 2016, SRO began operating an express train that covered the distance between Riyadh and Dammam in 3 hours 40 minutes. The train departs from Dammam at 9:30AM and from Riyadh at 1:10 PM daily.[37]
See also
References
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