Dammam–Riyadh line

Dammam–Riyadh line
A train on the Dammam–Riyadh Line.
Overview
Owner	Saudi Railways Organization (SRO)
Locale	Eastern Province and Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia
Termini	Dammam Riyadh
Stations	4
Website	www.sar.com.sa/en
Service
Type	Inter-city rail
Rolling stock	CAF push-pull train
History
Opened	1981 (1981)
Technical
Line length	449 km (279 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Character	At-grade
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Operating speed	180 km/h (110 mph)
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The Dammam–Riyadh line is a passenger railway line in Saudi Arabia, linking the Eastern Province's capital city of Dammam with the Saudi capital Riyadh. The 449 km line has four stations. It is operated by the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO).

History[]

The Dammam–Riyadh line was opened in 1981.

Upgrade[]

There is an upgrade ongoing^[when?] to replace level crossings with grade separations,^[1] and to bypass of the centre city of Hofuf.^[2] This shall allow 200 km/h speed.

In 2014, the SRO awarded a contract worth US $1.6 million to a consortium led by Spanish firm Consultrans to study alignments for a high-speed line linking Riyadh and Dammam.^[3]

In December 2015, the SRO President stated that the speed of trains on the line would be raised from 140 km/h to 160 km/h before the end of the year, and would further be increased to 180 km/h in 2016.^[4] On 7 December 2015, SRO began operating passenger services on the line using new CAF push-pull trainsets which operate at 180 km/h. The trains entered service just as the SRO had completed double-tracking of the entire 449 km line.^[5]

On 17 February 2017 at about 1:00 am, a train on the line derailed near Dammam, injuring 18 people, after flooding from torrential rains caused the rail line to erode. The train was carrying 193 passengers and six crew members. SRO stated that all injuries were minor. All passengers were transferred to another train and transported to Dammam station.^[6] The line was closed for repair following the accident, and SRO suspended all rail services to Dammam. Services were only operated between Riyadh and Hofuf.^[7] Full services were resume by 23 February 2017.

Stations[]

Riyadh railway station

The stations at Dammam, Hufuf and Riyadh were designed by and designed and built between 1978 and 1980. They were opened for public service in 1981. The terminus stations in Dammam and Riyadh are extremely similar and consist of a rectangular hall of three naves separated by two lines of pillars along the ends of the tracks and two wings at the ends of the main hall along the outer tracks. The design is based on the layout of some mosques along the Mediterranean Sea, where the prayer hall is located at one side of a court with lesser wings along the sides of the court.^[8] The style and decoration of the buildings uses elements such as triangular openings to construct windows and arcades and parapets with rectangular steps,^[9] elements bearing a resemblance to Nejd architecture but also common in other Arab architecture. The station building in Hufuf lies to the east of the through line along one side. The decoration is very similar to the stations in Dammam and Riyadh.

There are four stations on the Dammam–Riyadh line:

Infrastructure[]

Rolling stock[]

Spanish manufacturer CAF has in delivered 2012 delivered eight fast diesel locomotives, with one driving van trailer passenger car and four other passenger cars, with a leading power car unit; plus two spare power cars. They are used on the Dammam–Riyadh Line. During 2013 the travel time is 4:15 but there is a target of 3:00 for the future.

Class	Image	Top speed		Number	Remarks	Built
		mph	km/h
EMD SW1200				5	Diesel-electric locomotives. Series 1022-1026[10]	1950-60
		50	80	7	Secondhand Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from NS by in 1976 for construction works for a seaport in Jubail. Former 2427, 2445, 2485, 2497, 2499, 2519, 2523. Renumbered into 101-107. Sold to Archirodon for rail reconstruction between Damman and Riyadh and renumbered to 276-04 - 276-09. Some scrapped in 1983. Others active until 1994 and stored in Hofuf afterwards.[11]	1954-56
EMD GP18					Diesel-electric locomotives. 1200[10]
EMD FP7A				2	Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from Arabian American Oil Company (there 1006-1007).[12]
EMD SD38-2				6	Series 2004-2009. Order 778050. Diesel-electric locomotives[13]	1978
EMD SD50					Diesel-electric locomotives[14]
EMD SD70ACS				25	Diesel-electric locomotives for a mineral railway[15]	2010
CAF		112	180	8 Passenger Units & 10 Power Cars (5001-5010)	Passenger Trainsets with dedicated Power Cars.	2011
Class 319.2		75	120	>4	(Series 319.)Diesel-electric locomotives bought second hand.[16]

Tracks[]

The rails on the line are of the type C.W.R UIC 60.^[17]

Signaling system[]

In 2007, the SRO contracted a consortium made up of Siemens Transportation Systems and the Saudi Arabian Nour Communications Company to modernize both the Dammam–Riyadh line and the cargo line of SRO rail network. The line will be equipped with signalling technology including an electronic interlocking as core of the installation and Trainguard 100 for ETCS Level 1. GSM-Railway (GSM-R) mobile radio technology will be used for communications on the entire rail network.^[18]

Operations[]

The total journey time is about 4.5 hours.^[19] From 1 June 2016, SRO began operating an express train that covered the distance between Riyadh and Dammam in 3 hours 40 minutes. The train departs from Dammam at 9:30AM and from Riyadh at 1:10 PM daily.^[19]

References[]