RIYADH —The idea of establishing the first railway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was announced in the 1940s when the need then emerged for establishing a commercial port on the Arabian Gulf to transport imported goods through it to the warehouses of the then-named Arabian-American Oil Company (Aramco).

The idea presented by Aramco to establish a railway from Dammam to Riyadh included building a big commercial port that can receive big vessels transporting equipment for the oil industry, in addition to the port’s benefits on the national economy.

On Oct. 20, 1951, the route was inaugurated in Riyadh in an official ceremony that was attended by the late King Abdulaziz and the late King Saud Bin Abdulaziz along with a big number of officials.

The year 2006 marked establishing the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) by the Public Investment Fund, where SAR assumed its tasks to administrate and operate railways starting from the North–South Railway project and its operation.

SAR owns three main networks, which are the North-South, East and the Haramain High Speed Railway networks, in addition to administrating all operations of Al-Mashaaer Al-Mugaddassah Metro Line, with a total length of more than 5,380 kilometers.

The railway lines serve five ports, two in Jubail, King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, Riyadh Dry Port, and Ras Al-Khair Industrial Port, in addition to two mines.

SAR network also includes 15 passenger stations, eight maintenance workshops, 15 maneuver yards, where SAR operates 220 trains for passengers and cargo and serves more than three million passengers annually.

SAR was classified as one of the best three railway companies on the International Union of Railways’ 2019 global safety index for train operators, received the 2020 International Safety Award for the second consecutive year, and received the ISO45001 Certificate in the health and safety field. — SPA