The Saudi Railways Organization has completed almost 97 percent of all railway projects and the construction of 35 bridges, said Muhammad Abo Zaid, the director of Public Relations at Saudi Railways Organization, Sharqiya Province. “The Dammam-Riyadh double-track railway project will finish within 36 months and we are finishing the Ahsa-Riyadh double-track project,” he said. Those projects will reduce travel times, he said, because every time a train stops to let another one pass, the trip gets delayed for 30 minutes. The trip from Riyadh to Ahsa now takes about five hours, but when the projects are complete, it will be reduced by an hour, he added. “We have finished building fences to keep stray camels off railway tracks, which might disrupt train trips,” he noted. Abo Zaid also confirmed that eight high-speed Spanish trains, which can travel at 180 kilometers per hour, will arrive at the end of this year. The Saudi Railways Organization has contracted with a company that will provide information about schedules and other aspects of travel, on a weekly basis, he added. The company will also participate in a number of events such as Traffic Week and summer programs, he said. __
