Dammam–Riyadh line

Dammam–Riyadh line
A train on the Dammam–Riyadh Line
Overview
Owner	Saudi Arabia Railways
Locale	Eastern Province and Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia
Termini	Dammam Riyadh
Stations	4
Website	www.sar.com.sa/en
Service
Type	Inter-city rail
Operator(s)	Saudi Arabia Railways
Rolling stock	CAF push-pull train
History
Opened	1981 (1981)
Technical
Line length	449 km (279 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Character	At-grade
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	None
Operating speed	180 km/h (110 mph)
Route map

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.

History

The Dammam–Riyadh line was opened in 1981. Planning for the line started in 1947 with an agreement between King Ibn Saud and 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 the early 1950s.^[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.

Stations

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:

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

In 2012, Spanish manufacturer CAF delivered eight fast diesel locomotives, each complete with one trainset comprising one driving van and one trailer passenger car. They also provided four additional passenger cars and two spare locomotives. In 2013 the travel time across the entire line was 4:15, but there is a target of 3:00 for the future.^{[citation needed]}

Class	Image	Top speed		Number	Remarks	Built
		mph	km/h
EMD SW1200				5	Diesel-electric locomotives. Series 1022-1026[11]	1950-60
Class 2400		50	80	7	Secondhand Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from NS by Volker Stevin in 1976 for construction works for a seaport in Jubail. Formerly 2427, 2445, 2485, 2497, 2499, 2519, 2523. Renumbered into 101–107. Sold to Archirodon for rail reconstruction between Damman and Riyadh and renumbered to 276-04 - 276–09. Some scrapped in 1983. Others active until 1994 and stored in Hofuf afterwards.[12]	1954-56
EMD GP18					Diesel-electric locomotives. 1200[11]
EMD FP7A				2	Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from Arabian American Oil Company (there 1006–1007).[13]
EMD SD38-2				6	Series 2004–2009. Order 778050. Diesel-electric locomotives[14]	1978
EMD SD50					Diesel-electric locomotives[15]
EMD SD70ACS				25	Diesel-electric locomotives for a mineral railway[16]	2010
CAF		112	180	8 Passenger trainsets & 10 Locomotives (5001-5010)	Passenger Trainsets with dedicated Power Cars.	2011
Class 319.2		75	120	>4	Series 319 Diesel-electric locomotives bought second hand.[17]

Tracks

The line uses type C.W.R UIC 60 rails.^[18]

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.^[19]

Operations

The total journey time is about 4.5 hours.^[20] 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.^[20]

See also

• Rail transport in Saudi Arabia

References