DAMMAM, 4 July — A major railway project linking Riyadh with northwestern Saudi Arabia will be executed jointly by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maadin) and construction giant Saudi Oger, according to Minister of Communications Dr. Nasir Al-Salloum.

Speaking to Arab News after chairing a meeting of the Saudi Railway Organization’s board of directors here, Al-Salloum said the government would bear 50 percent of the project’s cost. But he did not say when the project would take off.

The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry is holding talks with businessmen to establish a company to finance the vital project, which will facilitate cargo transport from the minerals-rich northwestern regions to the industrial cities in the Central and Eastern provinces.

The minister’s announcement follows a decision by the Supreme Economic Council (SEC) to float the $2 billion railway expansion project to the private sector.

Al-Salloum said SRO has set up a team to study the proposed railway project linking Jeddah, Yanbu and Madinah. “We are also coordinating with the Justice Ministry to acquire land for linking other regions to the railway network,” he pointed out.

He did not rule out the possibility of expanding the present project to include the extension of the railway to Jubail on the Gulf coast. This will help industries in the city to use Dammam port for the transportation of their products.

Al-Salloum said SRO will soon sign an agreement with a Korean company for the purchase of new railway engines and coaches. According to reports published earlier, SRO was preparing to buy 24 new railway coaches at a cost of SR100 million.

Referring to SRO’s efforts to cut down on maintenance costs, the minister said the organization was making optimum use of manpower and other resources.

Tuesday’s SRO board meeting approved the organization’s budget for 2002 and reviewed measures adopted to bring down expenditures. It also discussed plans to extend the railway to the Second Industrial City in Riyadh.

The proposed link between Jeddah and Dammam, two of the country’s largest ports, is expected to boost cargo transport by about 20 percent to 30 million tons a year. According to estimates, some 23 million passengers will also use the railway a year.

The railway linking the Arabian Gulf and the Riyadh Region with Red Sea will cover a total length of 1,500 kilometers.

The rail link to Al-Zubaira and Jalameed belt regions will mainly be used to transport minerals. Maadin plans to transport 4.5 million tons of phosphate annually from Jalameed to Jubail for extraction once the rail project is executed. It also seeks to transport bauxite from Al-Zubaira area to the aluminum factories in the Eastern Province.

The Kingdom is the only country with a railway in the Arabian Peninsula. At the moment, there is only one active route, between the capital and Dammam.