The Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) has announced today that the Al Shoula consortium has been awarded the contract to provide the superstructure, systems, rolling stock, signalling, operation and maintenance for the Haramain High Speed Line linking the two Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah. This consortium is a Saudi-Spanish group which will implement the successful high speed line model and technology applied in Spain to this new line.

As a member of the Al Shoula consortium, Invensys Rail will provide the full turn-key signalling and train control systems, including its FUTUR 3000 and FUTUR 2500 Level 2 ERTMS solution and also includes centralised traffic control, electronic interlockings, LED wayside signals, train detection systems and on board ETCS equipment for the 34-strong train fleet. The contract includes a 12 year maintenance period. 

Invensys Rail’s share of the three year construction phase is valued at €298 million (around £260 million).  Its share of the 12 year maintenance phase is €185 million (around £160 million).

The Haramain railway is a new 444 km section of a high speed line designed to provide a fast, comfortable, reliable and safe mode of transport for passengers travelling between Makkah, Jeddah and Madinah – particularly relevant for the Hajj pilgrimage period. Trains will travel at a commercial speed of 300 km/h under a 25kV overhead electrification system using Invensys Rail’s Level 2 ERTMS technology for train protection. This state-of-the-art railway will provide pilgrims with a journey time between the two Haramain cities of less than two and a half hours.

The Saudi-Spanish consortium is led by the Saudi company Al Shoula and includes the Spanish Railways Operator RENFE, the Madrid-based rolling stock manufacturer Talgo and Invensys Rail’s Spanish subsidiary, Dimetronic. The three companies were instrumental in providing the highly demanding track record requested by the Saudi authorities. Other companies included in the consortium are ADIF (Spanish Railway Administrator), INECO (a leading engineering company in Spain), OHL and Cobra among others, all of them with great expertise in the development of the high speed line network in Spain.

Wayne Edmunds, Chief Executive of Invensys, commented:

“This is a major breakthrough for Invensys Rail. We are particularly delighted to be part of this team and we look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the global railway signalling and train control market.”

City.Mobi

Also in Saudi Arabia today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Riyadh.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Riyadh.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.