Tunnelling complete on Riyadh Metro Green Line

The Green Line is 13km long, has 11 underground stations and two transfer stations with the Red and Blue Lines and is costing US$2.27bn to build.

A worker walks past a giant poster at a construction site of a section of the Saudi capital Riyadh’s $22.5 billion metro system. AFP

The consortium in charge of building three of Riyadh Metro’s six lines has completed tunnelling excavation work on the US$2.27 billion Green Line.

Arriyadh Development Auth­ority held a ceremony on Wednesday to announce the completion of the line by the Fast consortium – a group led by Spanish contractor FCC that includes Korea’s Samsung C&T, France’s Alstom, Spanish consulting engineer Typsa, the Netherhands’ Strukton, France’s Setec, Atkins and Freys­­sinet Saudi Arabia.

The Green Line runs underground within a bored tunnel along King Abdulaziz Road, one of the main arteries running through the city. It is 13km long, has 11 underground stations and two transfer stations with the Red and Blue Lines and will cost US$2.27bn to build.

In total, the Fast consortium is building three lines at a cost of about $7.5bn, which includes 22km of underground work, 33km of viaducts and 9km of at-grade lines.

Following the completion of tunnelling, Alstom is now set to begin track works on the project, which was awarded to the consortium in 2013 and is due for completion by 2019.

Alstom is also supplying 69 driverless trains for the lines, as well as a signalling and energy recovery systems.

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