SAR News. Northern Train to start operating next June
The Saudi Railways Company (SAR) said in a press release that it plans to gradually launch the operation program for its first passenger trains linking Riyadh and Qurayyat through Majmaa, Qassim, Hail and Al-Jouf, in June next year with the completion of the rest of its infrastructure parts of the railway line, passenger stations and signaling and control systems.
SAR said in a press release. The company confirmed that it developed the program with the aim of verifying the efficiency of the trains to work in the hot climate and sandy nature of the Kingdom, as well as harmony with the rest of the other parts of the infrastructure represented in the railway, signaling and control systems and passenger stations, in addition to reaching the human cadre that will operate, manage and maintain all parts of this project to the efficiency that enables it to provide services that meet the needs and expectations of passengers traveling on the ”Northern Railway”.
Sources said that the company's sources said that the program aims to verify the efficiency of the trains to work in hot climates and the sandy nature of the Kingdom. <According to sources, the day train has a seating capacity of 444 seats and a length of 280 meters, as it consists of two locomotives and nine wagons of different types: Four economy class cars, three business class cars, a snack car, and a luggage car. The night train has a capacity of 377 seats and a length of 383 meters, consisting of two locomotives and 13 different types of wagons: Three economy class carriages, one business class carriage, three sleeper carriages, four carriage carriages, a snack carriage, and a luggage carriage, where passengers can drop their luggage at the passenger terminal upon departure and pick it up from the “moving belts” in the arrival hall.
The company stressed that the overnight train has a capacity of 377 seats, with a length of 103 meters, as it consists of two locomotives and 13 carriages of different types. The company confirmed that all its day and night trains are technically and design identical to run at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, adding that it put the elderly and people with special needs among its priorities in the design of its trains, starting from their boarding the train by equating the level of the train floor with the station platforms to facilitate the process of entering and exiting the train without the need to use stairs, in addition to spacious restrooms with special equipment, as well as the company's keenness to allocate places to perform prayer and provide large screens in the corridors to determine the direction of the qibla and display journey information.
While the company's trains have a wide range of facilities.
SAR In February, SAR signed an operational management and technical support contract with a British consortium led by Serco, which specializes in the operation of passenger trains, which operates a number of trains in several countries, including the Dubai Metro in the United Arab Emirates. The company has concluded a contract to manufacture six trains to provide passenger transportation services on the Northern Railway project, including four day and two night trains for long journeys between Riyadh and Qurayyat.
