Recently in Saudi Arabia Category

Minister of Finance Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who is also Chairman of the board of directors of the General Investments Fund and Dr Jubarah Al-Sireisiri, the Minister of Transport and Chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) have signed a contract with Foster Company for preparation of engineering designs for passengers' stations of the project of Al-Haramain High Speed Train (HHST), which is estimated to cost SR 142 million.

Dr al-Sireisiri said this contract represents the second part of the first phase of the project of Al-Haramain High Speed Train.

He noted that the designs will be in line with the international standards and specifications.

Dr al-Sireisiri said these Railway stations will be located in Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and Rabigh.

Dr al-Sireisiri pointed out that Foster company is one of the greatest specialized companies in the field of engineering designing.

On his part, SRO President Abdulaziz Al-Hukeil said the SRO in cooperation with the representatives of the World Bank and the General Investments Fund is finalizing the documents of the second phase of the project.

Source: Daily 

Saudi Railways Organisation decided to delay the tender for the second phase of the Haramain high-speed railway between the holy cities of Mecca and Mediana while the designs for the future railway stations were completed.

At the beginning of April, the Organisation hired the British company Foster & Partners for the design of five railway stations (in Mecca, Jeddah, Jeddah International Airport, King Abdullah Economic City and Medina). The due date of the contract is November 2009. The SRO originally wanted to start the tendering process for the contracts to build the stations in April, but "it has been decided that the project needed world-class station designs because of the importance of the holy cities,"says one official at the SRO.

The tender could be issued  in the third or fourth financial quarters of the year, the contract including only the construction works. The Organisation expects five consortiums to bid: one led by Saudi Binladin Group and Spain's Obrascon Huarte Lain (OHL); the Al-Shoula consortium, led by the Canada-based Vision Transportation Group; the Saudi-Japanese group, led by Acwa Power International and Mitsubishi; the Al-Rajhi Alliance, led by Mada Group; and the Saudi Oger consortium.

Source: steelmillsoftheworld.com

Foster + Partners has been appointed the designer for four stations on the Haramain high-speed railway

In a joint venture with Buro Happold, the new project will link the holy cities of Mecca and Medina via Jeddah, Rabigh and King Abdullah Economic City on the Red Sea coast. It will offer a faster service for the millions of pilgrims conducting the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.

The Saudi Rail Organisation is the client for the project, which has an estimated project value of $6 billion. Trains running on the 444km line are expected to reach 300km/h. The project is due for completion by 2013.

Mouzhan Majidi, Chief Executive of Foster + Partners, said: 'The Haramain high-speed rail project represents a major investment in sustainable public transport by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with potentially far-reaching social and economic consequences. The project will foster new social and cultural connections across the Kingdom's western cities, and the design of the four new stations will support and symbolise this progressive approach.'

Source:Architects Journal