Dammam–Riyadh Line

Dammam–Riyadh line
A train on the Dammam–Riyadh Line.
Overview
Type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Eastern Province and Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia
Termini	Dammam Riyadh
Stations	4
Website	saudirailways.org
Operation
Opened	1981
Owner	Saudi Railways Organization (SRO)
Character	At-grade
Rolling stock	CAF push-pull train
Technical
Line length	449 km (279 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Electrification	None
Route map

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 4 stations. It is operated by the Saudi Railways Organization (SRO). The total journey time is about 4.5 hours.

Construction

The Dammam–Riyadh Line was opened in 1981.

Upgrade

There is an upgrade ongoing, where bridges replace level crossings^[1] and a 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]

Stations

Riyadh station.

The stations at Dammam, Hufuf and Riyadh were designed by Lucio Barbera 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.^[4] The style and decoration of the buildings uses elements such as triangular openings to construct windows and arcades and parapets with rectangular steps,^[5] 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:

#	Station name		Distance from origin
	English	Arabic
1	Dammam	الدمام	0 km
2	Abqaiq	بقيق	74 km
3	Hofuf	الهفوف	139.26 km
4	Riyadh	الرياض	449 km

Infrastructure

Rolling stock

The SRO's fleet consists of 102 diesel locomotives and 75 passenger cars. These are classified into 12 cars of Al-Rehab class with a capacity of 540 seats, 9 cars of Al-Taleaa class with a capacity of 652 seats, 25 cars of Al-Qafila class with a capacity of 2,012 seats along with 2 special-class cars, 8 diner cars, 12 luggage and power generation cars and 1 car that has been specially fitted as an ambulance car to enhance safety.^[6]

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[7]	1950-60
Class 2400		50	80	7	Secondhand Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from NS by Volker Stevin 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.[8]	1954-56
EMD GP18					Diesel-electric locomotives. 1200[7]
EMD FP7A				2	Diesel-electric locomotives taken over from Arabian American Oil Company (there 1006-1007).[9]
EMD SD38-2				6	Series 2004-2009. Order 778050. Diesel-electric locomotives[10]	1978
EMD SD50					Diesel-electric locomotives[11]
EMD SD70ACS				25	Diesel-electric locomotives for a mineral railway[12]	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.[13]

Tracks

The rails on the line are of the type C.W.R UIC 60.^[14]

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.^[15]

References

1. 30-year railway master plan
2. Hofuf bypass contract
3. http://infrastructureme.com/2015/09/revisiting-rail/
4. A short description of the Dammam station at ArchNet.org with a comparison of the station plan to the layout of the Al-Ashar mosque in Cairo and other pictures.
5. On this page at the website of Lucio Barbera, click on the year 82 of the "Integrated Projects" time line to see a plan some drawings and pictures.
6. https://www.saudirailways.org/sites/sro/Pages/en-us/AboutUs/Statistics/OurFleet.aspx
7. ttnut.om
8. Dierdorp, Sicco & Davy Beumer (2011), D.E.-Locomotieven serie 2200/2300 en 2400/2500. Alkmaar: De Alk
9. rrpicturesarchives.net
10. Trainweb.org
11. Railpictures.net
12. HaRakevet: Rothschild PhD, Rabbi Walter (2010), New mineral railway Issue 90
13. "World rolling stock market May 2014", www.railwaygazette.com, 11 May 2014
14. Saudi Railways Organization. "Technical Information". Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
15. Siemens AG. "Dammam - Riad, Saudi Arabia". Retrieved 2008-07-09.