Image credit: Gitte Spinder

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: According to a press communiqué from Alstom, Fast Consortium, one of three consortia contracted by ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) to build the Riyadh Metro Project’s six lines, has completed the tunnel excavation works for Line 5 (Green Line).

The announcement, the communiqué said, was made on June 8 during a ceremony in the presence of H.R.H. Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Governor of Riyadh, H.E. Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Transport Minister, in addition to other dignitaries from different government ministries and VIP guests. A full size mock-up of the Riyadh Metropolis trains, manufactured by Alstom, was also unveiled at the event, the communiqué added.

Fast Consortium, the communiqué informed, is commissioned to build the Yellow, Green and Purple lines, which comprise 33 kilometres of viaducts, 22 kilometres of underground and nine kilometres of at-grade. The 13-kilometre Green Line, which features 11 deep underground stations, in addition to two transfer stations with the Red and Blue lines, runs underground within a bored tunnel along King Abdulaziz Road, one of the main arteries running through the city of Riyadh, revealed the communiqué.

Image credit: Gitte Spinder

The communiqué also mentioned that seven TBMs have been working on the tunnelling under the city for the metro project.

Alstom said that it will kick-start the construction of the track works, commencing within an at-grade section of the Yellow Line, which will be the first tracks to be installed throughout the Riyadh Metro project.

Alstom informed that in 2013, the company and its consortium, Fast^[1], were awarded a contract to supply three metro lines totalling a length of approximately 64 kilometres. Alstom said that it is supplying a fully integrated metro system, which includes: 69 Metropolis Trains, Urbalis signalling, the energy recovery system, Hesop, as well as tracks. All sub systems, it added, have been optimised together to reduce energy consumption.

Alstom has provided a link to the video of the metro: https://youtu.be/RCExryHt_h8

[1] Fast includes : FCC (leader), Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Alstom, Samsung, Strukton, Setec and Typsa