Friday 1 May 2009

Saudi Arabia on track for railway boom


For two years engineers and construction workers from round the world have braved the north-eastern desert of Saudi Arabia, tackling mountains of sand and the whims of stubborn camels.

Their task is to lay more than 2,400km of track to connect remote mines with a new industrial city in the east, as well as passenger and freight links between Riyadh and the Jordanian border town of Haditha.

The SR20bn ($5.3bn, €4bn, £3.6bn) project – the north-south line – is one of three separate developments intended to create a railway network for Saudi Arabia estimated to be costing $25bn. Such plans have been doing the rounds for years but until now they had never made it off the drawing boards.

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