Saudi Arabia approves high-speed rail link with Kuwait

Saudi Arabia has approved the high-speed railway project aimed at boosting transport links with Kuwait.

The project will link both countries via a high-speed bullet train service that will shuttle between Riyadh and Kuwait City. It is expected that consultancy studies on the project will take approximately six months in the run-up to its implementation, but the approval was made at a cabinet session in Neom in Saudi Arabia chaired by Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

This is just one of several new initiatives that Saudi Arabia has put in place in 2023 to ensure that the kingdom continues widespread development.

Gulf track: Improving international rail links

MEED reported in early May that Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) and the Saudi Public Transport Authority had appointed multinational engineering and consulting group Systra to complete a feasibility study for a high-speed rail link connecting the country with Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are keen to maintain close ties, having set up a coordination council in 2018 aimed at boosting cooperation.

Kuwait has also issued a study and design tender for the first stage of the 565-kilometre Kuwait Railway Project, which comprises a Gulf track, a commercial track and an economic track.

The country is also pushing ahead with the Kuwait National Rail Road (KNRR) project. The scheme is seen as a significant component of the country's contribution to the GCC railway. The project owner, Kuwait’s Public Authority for Roads and Land Transportation, via the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), issued a request for proposals (RFP) in January 2023.

In order to develop links between Kuwait, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has given the greenlight to the railroad linkage project. The Saudi Council of Ministers had previously granted authority to the Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, or their designated representative, to engage in discussions with the Kuwaiti counterparts regarding the draft agreement.

This agreement focuses on a pivotal railway connection initiative between the Kingdom and the State of Kuwait.

Creating new job opportunities through development

Both countries are a part of the Gulf Railway (GCC railway) - the proposed railway system to connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council member states in Eastern Arabia. The rail network will be 2,177 km in length and is estimated to cost US$250bn. It was scheduled to be completed by 2025, but as of 2023 construction work has yet to start.

The purpose of the Gulf Railway is expected to boost free movement across the GCC by providing unhindered travel from Kuwait to Oman. GCC nationals have visa-free entry to each other's countries and the railway is also expected to boost intra-GCC trade by providing freight transport services. 

According to Abdulrahim Naqi, Secretary General of the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the railway hopes to provide more than 80,000 direct and indirect jobs once it is operational.

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