Contract Signed for £1.2 BN High Speed Railway To Connect Saudi’s Neom City
A joint venture of Webuild and Shibh Al Jazira Contracting Company (SAJCO) has signed a contract worth £1.2bn (€1.4bn) to design and build 57km of high-speed railway in Neom, Saudi Arabia. The proposed railway, the Connector, will traverse the north Red Sea coast and will connect two of the planned mega-cities of Neom, The Line and Oxagon.
Webuild’s landmark contract for the infrastructure of Neom, a regeneration project in the Tabuk region of northwest Saudi Arabia, covers the design and build for the majority of the Connector. The partnership includes civil works for the two high-speed and two freight railway tracks, where Webuild will lead the execution of the works. It also covers the construction of viaducts, road bridges and road and rail underpasses to facilitate train speeds of up to 230km/h.
As a result of this agreement, the Italian construction and engineering giant, previously known as Salini Impreglio, anticipates more than 4,000 direct and indirect jobs are to be generated in the Saudi market. The joint venture agreement is split 70/30 between Webuild, through its local branch and its unit Salini Saudi Arabia, and SAJCO.
The Connector may not be Webuild’s only contract for the Neom project. Last month, it was reported that Neom had invited contractors, WeBuild among them, to submit bids by 12 June for contracts to complete the Delta Junction scheme of tunnels connecting the Spine with the Neom Connector. Spain’s Acciona and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) were also invited.
The Delta Junction’s five contracts are for roughly 5km of tunnel excavation each, to be delivered with drill and blast and cut and cover techniques through hard rock. The tunnelling work will be split into two lots, one for north Neom and one for south Neom.
