27 / 88
Watch the Riyadh metro video
TBMs (tunnel boring machines) with a dia-
meter of almost 19 metres and which can
excavate full tunnel sections. A total of 7
TBMs will be used to complete the Riyadh
Metro which will have 85 stations covering
175 kilometres.
Out of the total budget of 16.3 billion euros,
around 6 billion are intended for the works
on lines 4, 5 and 6. There are 25 stations
planned for these three lines in Package 3,
awarded to FCC, for which a total of 65 km
of metro tracks, 24 km of viaducts, 28 km
of underground tracks and 13 km of surfa-
ce tracks are required. In addition, 69 auto-
matic and driverless trains will be created to
provide service to the three lines.
The first stage of the works began at the
beginning of April 2014 with the excavation
of the “4 G1” station at the Riyadh King
Khaled international airport, one of the sta-
tions on line 4 which will link the financial
city to the capital’s airdrome.
It is estimated that the works will be com-
plete in 2018 and FAST (along with Sam-
sung, Alstom, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi
Arabia, Typsa, Atkins and Setec) will use
around 15,000 workers of over 33 nationa-
lities. FCC faces the challenge of designing
and constructing a first-class metro for the
capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
where there are currently 5.7 million inha-
bitants. Of the total population, 2% uses
public transport and there are around 7.4
million daily commutes. It is estimated that
by 2030 the population will have grown to
8.3 million, which is why the Riyadh metro
will increase the quality of life of its citizens,
besides boosting the local economy.
The largest
international contract
awarded to a Spanish
construction company
u s i n e s s
